NBA Live Broadcast deal in India – Prasar Bharati to show NBA Classics: The NBA this season till date does not currently have a media-rights partner for live matches in India. The deal with Sony could not be renewed. But now the biggest basketball league in the world has agreed a deal with Indian public-service broadcaster Prasar Bharati for rights to show classic content, documentaries, game highlights.
Live NBA coverage of the 2020-21 season is currently only available via the NBA League Pass subscription product.
NBA – Prasar Bharati Deal: As per the understanding between the parties, the content will be shown on Prasar Bharati’s sports television channel Doordarshan Sports and its YouTube channel Prasar Bharati Sports. It includes the Hardwood Classics and Marquee Matchups series, as well as NBA championship videos and NBA TV specials. Prasar Bharati began showing the content last week.
Other than Prasar Bharti, FanCode also currently show highlights videos of the 2020-21 season.
The NBA is currently playing a shortened 2020-21 season behind closed doors due to the pandemic, with each team playing 72 games instead of the usual 82.
Announcing the Prasar Bharati deal, Sunny Malik, head of global content and media distribution at NBA India, said: “We are pleased to partner with Prasar Bharati to offer classic NBA programming and highlights. Prasar Bharati shares our vision of growing the NBA’s fanbase in India and providing a wide range of content to our fans nationwide.”
Mayank Agarwal, director general of Doordarshan, said: “We have been in the process of reinvigorating the content of DD Sports, and NBA programming adds to the variety of offerings in the sports cluster. We aim to create easy access for fans in India and educate them further about one of the world’s most popular sports.”
Live NBA coverage of the 2020-21 season is currently only available via the NBA League Pass subscription product.