The National Basketball Association (NBA) is once again enhancing the viewing experience through the use of new technology. Beginning this week, NBA games will be available on Sportslive, a closed loop broadband service in South Korea. As a result of the recently signed agreement, NBA games and programming can be seen in real time and on demand.
As part of the new deal, the NBA has licensed live game coverage for the remainder of this season and for the entire 2001-02 season. The agreement also includes NBA Jam, a ‘behind-the-scenes’ lifestyle program for teens, a daily two-minute video of NBA highlights, and NBA Classic games.
‘The demand for NBA programming in South Korea continues to grow and this agreement allows us to reach our fans in a completely new environment,’ said Scott Levy, Senior Director of International Television for the NBA. ‘Broadband penetration is high in South Korea and we look forward to providing this viewing option to our fans through Sportslive’s innovative service.’
On Friday, April 13th, the NBA became the first professional sports league to webcast a live game in streaming video when the Dallas Mavericks hosted the Sacramento Kings. This new relationship with Sportslive marks the first agreement to offer a series of NBA games via broadband and live viewing over a computer.
With more than 1.5 million Internet broadband households in South Korea and more than 3 million Internet dial-up subscribers, South Korea has one of the largest broadband and technology populations in the world.
The NBA also recently entered a deal earlier this season with Kyung-In Broadcasting Limited to bring weekly NBA programming to fans in Korea on its channel iTV through the 2001-2002 season. NBA programming also has coverage through ESPN Star Sports.
The NBA is a leader in the sports technology industry and is at the forefront of technological advances, providing fans around the world with their taste of NBA access and action through several different assets.
With more than one third of NBA.com’s traffic originating from outside of the United States, the league has launched NBA.com Canada, UK, Espanol (in Spanish) and Japan (in Japanese). These are special sections of NBA.com, the official Web site of the NBA, that spotlight news and information that is most relevant and targeted to NBA fans by region and by language. Each version includes NBA TV programming and events information, highlights on NBA teams and players in the league, as well as links to the comprehensive information and statistics available on NBA.com.
Since its founding in 1946, the NBA has become a global phenomenon that transcends national boundaries. With 29 teams in the United States and Canada, NBA games and related programming are broadcast to 210 countries in 42 languages. The NBA is one of the largest suppliers of sports television and Internet programming in the world. Through NBA Entertainment, the league’s award-winning production and programming division, the league produces NBA.com TV, a 24-hour television network, weekly television shows, and exclusive content for each of the NBA’s team Web sites, and the league’s official site, NBA.com. The league has partnered with the leading Internet content and technology providers, including America Online, Convera, IBM, Real Networks, USA Networks, and Yahoo! to bring the game experience even closer to its fans worldwide.
For more information on the NBA, visit nba.com.
Sportslive, a broadband content portal in South Korea, was founded in May of 2000 to distribute live sports action via the Internet. Learning from the experience of its mother company, Freenet, Sportslive has become one of the largest suppliers of sports content in South Korea. Sportslive provides subscribers with quality services and offers fast updates of data, quick news, unique information on various sports and more. For more information on Sportslive, visit www.sportslive.co.kr.
For further information please contact:
Laura Traynham
NBA
+1 212 407 8095
ltraynham@nba.com