SBS To Broadcast NBA And WNBA Games In New Multiyear Partnership

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) will return to free-to-air television this season under a new deal with SBS.

The multiyear partnership will see SBS broadcast two live, regular season NBA games per week in HD on SBS VICELAND and streamed live via SBS On Demand.

SBS will also broadcast one live WNBA game per week on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand throughout the WNBA regular season and a selection of games from the first three rounds of the WNBA playoffs.

“Premium international sports continue to be a focus of SBS’s offering, and we are thrilled to partner with the NBA and the WNBA to bring live coverage back to Australians for free,” SBS Managing Director, James Taylor said.

“The NBA and the WNBA are among the world’s most diverse leagues and basketball is an increasingly popular sport.

“Building on our recently announced deal with the NBL, these partnerships with the NBA and the WNBA make SBS the exclusive free-to-air home of basketball in Australia and are a great opportunity to bring new audiences, particularly younger viewers, to SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.”

The NBA deal is only for the regular season so it appears likely play-off games and the NBA Finals will only be available on ESPN or streamed on NBA League Pass.

NBA Asia Head of Global Content and Media Distribution, Ramez Sheikh, said: “We are excited to partner with SBS to bring NBA and WNBA games and programming to a nationwide audience on free-to-air television.”

“These partnerships show that fans in Australia have a growing demand for basketball content and beginning next season, they will enjoy outstanding NBA and WNBA coverage on SBS across broadcast and digital.”

The NBA season begins on October 23.