Nation Media Group and NBA announce broadcast partnership
Nation Media Group (NMG) Chief Executive Officer Stephen Gitagama (left) is presented with a basketball signed by President of Toronto Raptors, Masai Ujiri, on August 14, 2019 at Nation Centre
What you need to know:
The partnership formally begins on Monday when Team LeBron takes on Team Durant in the 70th NBA ALL-Star Game at 2:30am EAT.
Nairobi. The Nation Media Group (NMG) and National Basketball Association (NBA) today struck historic deal to air select matches of the most popular basketball competition in the world.
This multi-year deal makes NTV, which is one of the leading stations in Kenya, the official free-to-air-broadcast partner of the NBA in Kenya.
The partnership formally begins on Monday when Team LeBron takes on Team Durant in the 70th NBA ALL-Star Game at 2:30am EAT.
"We are excited to enter into this partnership with the NBA to deliver to Kenyans the beautiful game of basketball," said NMG's Group CEO Stephen Gitagama.
"This deal will be a great addition to the existing array of sports where our NTV audiences can access world-class basketball viewing experience from the comfort of their homes. This partnership reaffirms our commitment to the development of sports in Kenya and we believe we will inspire our youth to take it up as a profession and make it to the international stage."
As part of this agreement, NTV will broadcast more than 25 live games throughout the second half of the 2020-21 NBA season including regular-season games, the NBA Playoffs and Conference Finals, plus weekly magazine show dubbed 'NBA Action.
"We are thrilled to launch our first free-to-air broadcast partnership in Kenya with Nation Media Group," said NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams.
"This partnership is part of our continued efforts to make the game of basketball more accessible across the continent and fans in Kenya will now have an opportunity to follow their favourite players and teams on NTV throughout the season."
This partnership also offers Kenyans a chance to watch the biggest basketball teams and stars of the world including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Pascal Siakam, Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid live and free.
The NBA boasts a long history in Africa and opened its African headquarters in Johannesburg in 2010.
Opening-night rosters for the 2020/2021 NBA season featured a record-tying 14-African players and these are more than 100 current and former players from or with at least one parent from Africa.
The NBA is the most popular basketball league in the world, boasting of not only millions of viewers but also billions of followers on social media.
