Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) has claimed a first for the country with a global streaming agreement with social video platform Twitch.
The NBL has struck a two-year deal with Twitch to stream all games globally on a dedicated channel. Games will also be able to be co-streamed to allow users to provide unique commentary on their own channels.
Coverage will also incorporate stats and polls to enhance the user experience. The agreement has been signed after the recent Twitch stream of the Illawarra Hawks vs Perth Wildcats attracted 184,000 unique viewers.
NBL commissioner Jeremy Loeliger said: “Our partnership with Twitch is truly revolutionary for Australian sport and reinforces the NBL’s status as a global entertainment product.
“Not only does it take our product to an entirely new audience all around the world, but by allowing our games to be co-streamed by members of the Twitch community, it also delivers those games in a new way that is more engaging for that audience.
“People who have never heard of the NBL before will be logging in to see their favourite streamers presenting our content. It’s a very exciting development.”
The NBL last month reached an agreement to stream 52 games from its 2019-20 season live in the US via Facebook Watch.