Two days after inking a partnership with the NHL to stream the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Hulu announced Friday a marketing push that will feature its logo splashed across TNT’s broadcast of the NBA Playoffs.
Hulu’s ad spots will begin airing this Sunday and will last through TNT’s First Round, Conference Semifinals and Western Conference Finals coverage of the NBA Playoffs, during which Hulu will serve as TNT’s presenting sponsor.
As part of the deal with Turner Sports, Hulu will produce exclusive branded content featuring NBA on TNT’s on-air talent, who will highlight the breadth of Hulu’s live TV service. Subscribers to Hulu’s $39.99 monthly TV service will be able to live stream NBA playoff games broadcast on TNT, ABC and ESPN.
Also a part of the Turner deal, a “Presented by Hulu” tag will appear on NBA on TNT’s opening graphic cards, as well as on custom billboards and scoreboards throughout each game of all playoff rounds.
SportTechie Takeaway
This ad deal for the NBA Playoffs signals yet another push by Hulu to position itself as a sports broadcaster of live events. Hulu launched its live monthly TV service in May 2017 with more than 50 sports, news, entertainment and kids’ channels. Since then it has streamed live games from major pro and college leagues, from the 2018 Winter Olympics and March Madness tournament to local games across the NFL, MLB and NBA. Earlier this week, however, Hulu said it wanted to focus on its sports content even more after realizing that much of the growth of its live TV service was being driven by sports fans.
Upon announcing a partnership with the NHL that made Hulu an official sponsor of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs and Final and gave it the rights to stream playoff games across the NBC, NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), CNBC, USA Network and Golf Channels, Hulu said it was looking to “amplify its live sports offering and remind sports fans” that they can watch key games on its service.
Hulu, which is jointly owned by The Walt Disney Company, 21st Century Fox, Comcast and Time Warner, recognizes that there’s a gap in the market for sports fans looking to consume live sports over the internet, especially as many look for ways to consume sports without having to pay for expensive cable TV packages.
While a number of broadcast companies, such as ESPN (with its $4.99 ESPN+) and CBS (through its free streaming channel CBS Sports HQ), are launching their own over-the-top apps, Hulu offers fans a way to watch a number of those sports channels from a single location.
This partnership with the NHL, and marketing push across the NBA Playoffs, also come as other internet companies scoop up sports rights and dip their toes in the live sports streaming world. Amazon won the rights to a handful of Thursday Night Football games last NFL season, while Facebook and Twitter both now stream games from Major League Baseball.