BeIN Media Group and the National Basketball Association have re-upped. The pay-TV operator has extended its long-running deal for NBA games and the agreement gives it a raft of games to show across the Middle East and North Africa.
Specifically, BeIN gets up to nine regular-season NBA games a week and will have coverage in Arabic, English and French. It also has rights to the Playoffs, Conference Finals, and the NBA Finals.
The games will be televised on BeIN’s in-house sports channels, which are carried on the regular pay-TV service, and they will also be shown on its streaming platform, TOD.
BeIN has held the MENA rights to NBA games since 2008. The NBA has been staging pre-season games in Abu Dhabi in recent years. Basketball is hugely popular in the region and widely counted the second most-popular team sport after soccer.
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“Our broadcast partnership with the NBA is one of the longest and most valued in our portfolio,” said Mohammad Al-Subaie, CEO of BeIN MENA. “This renewal reinforces our position as the global home of sports and reflects our ongoing commitment to delivering world-class, multilingual, and multi-platform coverage to viewers.”
NBA Senior Vice President and Head of International Content Partnerships Matt Brabants added: “Through live games, highlights, and original content available in Arabic, English, and French, fans will continue to enjoy unprecedented access to the league’s most thrilling moments.”
The international deal is the second for NBA rights announced this week. On Tuesday we reported Disney+’s multi-year deal to stream the NBA in the Philippines, bringing live coverage to Disney+ and ESPN in the country for the first time.