YouTube TV continued its aggressive play into the sports streaming market with a presenting partnership of the NBA Finals, the first such sponsorship in the league’s history.
The logo for the championship series will read, “The Finals presented by YouTube TV,” and the multiyear agreement includes backing of the WNBA and G-League title-crowning series as well.
This follows a similar partnership with Major League Baseball that began last fall, crowning the Fall Classic as the World Series presented by YouTube TV.
ABC has broadcast the NBA Finals every year since 2003, and the network is included in YouTube TV’s standard package, so fans can watch the games with the streaming service, just as Fox and FS1 were both available for customers to watch the World Series.
YouTube TV announced last month that it had added MLB Network and NBA TV to its offerings as well as Turner Broadcasting channels such as TBS and TNT. The full out-of-market premium packages NBA League Pass and MLB.TV will also be added soon.
“Our presenting partnership of The Finals marks another first in our longstanding and innovative history with YouTube,” NBA SVP of global media and business development Dan Rossomondo said in a statement. “The NBA Finals on ABC, as well as the WNBA Finals and NBA G League Finals, are pinnacle events, and with YouTube TV we are excited to provide fans with new ways to experience the excitement of these championship series.”
The NBA was the first professional sports league to sanction its game highlights to be streamed at YouTube, starting its own channel back in 2005 that has generated 4.6 billion views.
“Partnering with the NBA is a slam dunk for YouTube TV members, with more basketball content and the first-ever presenting partner of the NBA Finals,” Angela Courtin, global head of YouTube TV & originals marketing, added. “YouTube TV was built for fans, and we are excited to bring to life our cable-free live TV service during one of the most watched sports events of the year.”
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SportTechie Takeaway
The biggest obstacle for cord-cutters has been a need to access live sports content, so YouTube TV’s ambitious plan to include a series of cable channels (MLB Network, NBA TV, TBS and TNT) with broadcast rights — not to mention offer the NBA League Pass and MLB.TV packages as well — could shift the market and encourage more sports fans to join the legions dropping cable television services.
YouTube TV increased their subscription price from $35 a month to $40 a month on March 13. One subscription allows for six different accounts that can stream simultaneously and have their own unlimited DVRs.