NEW YORK: USA Basketball and the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced Tuesday a streaming partnership with Amazon-owned video platform Twitch, making it the exclusive live streaming partner of USA Basketball. Beginning this summer, Twitch will stream all USA Men’s National Team exhibition games to fans globally.
Twitch will also stream select USA Women’s National Team friendly games, select USA Basketball 3×3 events and the 2020 Nike Hoop Summit, as well as coverage of the men’s and women’s training camps and other USA Basketball events. Twitch will offer the option to co-stream all events, giving fans a chance to connect with their community by offering their own commentary.
All USA Basketball content will be available live on Twitch at https://www.twitch.tv/nba. Following each live broadcast, content will also be available for fans to view on-demand.
“Bringing USA Basketball programming to Twitch is an exciting next step in our partnership,” said David Denenberg, NBA senior vice president, Global Media Distribution and Business Affairs. “Twitch shares in our commitment to innovation and using technology to improve the live game viewing experience for basketball fans around the world.”
“Our partnership with Twitch is an exciting and unique opportunity to showcase USA Basketball events through their robust streaming audience worldwide,” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball CEO. “We look forward to new, innovative ways to tell USA Basketball’s story, as well as the athletes and coaches who represent their country on USA Basketball national teams.”
Twitch will work closely with USA Basketball on additional content opportunities around each event to incorporate innovative elements, such as interactive custom overlays, to provide new fan engagement opportunities that further enhance the live game viewing experience.
The deal is part of the continued relationship between Twitch and NBA-affiliated leagues and partners. Over the past two years, the platform has streamed NBA G League and NBA 2K League games, and this month became a streaming partner of the Jr. NBA Global Championship.
“The NBA was one of our first partners outside of gaming, so we’re very familiar with the passion of their fans,” says Michael Aragon, senior vice-president of Content at Twitch. “Twitch and USA Basketball is a perfect fit for multiplayer entertainment.”
