US basketball’s elite NBA has announced the multi-year extension of its in-flight and at-sea broadcast partnership with Sport 24.
The airline and cruise-line broadcast service, owned by global sports agency IMG, will showcase over 125 live NBA games per season across the span of the multi-year deal.
This will include 5 games each week from the NBA’s regular season, post-season playoffs and play-in tournament, and flagship season-ending finals, as well as the league’s new Emirates Cup in-season tournament, and showpiece exhibition matches such as the annual All-Star game.
Sport 24 first acquired NBA rights in 2015.
Speaking on the renewal, IMG Media senior vice president for content and channels Richard Wise stated: “This is another example of our commitment to North American sports and to better serve our airline and cruise ship partners around the world.”
Sport 24 is partnered with 11 airlines, including UAE flag carrier and NBA sponsor Emirates, and 15 cruise lines, and also holds rights including those to golf’s PGA Tour, European soccer continental club competitions organized by UEFA, and motor racing's iconic Formula 1.
Adam Cox, senior director of global media distribution for NBA Europe and the Middle East, added: “We are excited to continue our collaboration with IMG and Sport 24 as part of our commitment to making NBA games and programming accessible to fans wherever they are.”
The 2024-25 NBA season will tip-off on October 22, 2024, when the Boston Celtics host the New York Knicks, with the play-in tournament then taking place across April 15-18, 2025, the playoffs running from April 19, and the finals set to begin on June 5.
The second annual edition of The Emirates Cup in-season tournament, meanwhile, will run from November 12 through December 17, 2024.
In terms of media rights tie-ups, meanwhile, earlier this month Kenya’s Nation Media Group and the NBA renewed their broadcast partnership for another two years.
