Subscription sports streaming service DAZN has agreed a three-season deal with the Brazilian Basketball League (LNB) to become the main rights partner of its top-tier club competition, the NBB.
The agreement covers the seasons spanning 2019-20 to 2021-22, with DAZN to broadcast 120 games in the first year of the deal, a number that will increase in subsequent seasons.
For 2019-20, DAZN will broadcast 112 regular season games and eight exclusive games from the playoffs, include the final five matches. Additional content such as game highlights and interviews will also be produced.
The agreement comes after DAZN last month agreed a deal with the Rio de Janeiro Basketball Federation to provide coverage in Brazil of Campeonato Estadual games played between Flamengo, Botafogo and Niterói.
Bandeirantes, the free-to-air commercial broadcaster, will continue its NBB coverage after agreeing a three-year renewal.
BandSports, the subscription sister channel of Bandeirantes, held a two-season NBB rights agreement covering the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, but its coverage will stop now than DAZN has come on board. Rights have also been held by Globosat-owned SporTV, the cable and satellite pay-TV broadcaster.
ESPN and Fox Sports, the pay-TV broadcasters, continue to air matches on Tuesdays and Fridays, respectively.
The NBB has not divulged the level of rights income it will generate through now ensuring that all matches are being aired, but a government report claims that a total of R$4 million (€873,900 / $960,900) will be invested.
The DAZN deal furthers the LNB’s multi-platform strategy for the league, complementing existing agreements with broadcasters and streaming deals with Facebook and Twitter.
LNB president Kouros Monadjemi said: “We had the boldness to come up with the multi-platform concept last season and were very happy to reinforce and further extend this idea.
“The arrival of DAZN is a milestone for LNB, as it is a very strong partner, which is gaining strength in the market every day. This partnership certainly represents a huge gain in NBB Caixa’s digital content distribution and we are very excited about it.”