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he NBL has announced a multi-year partnership with Sportradar, with the sports entertainment and data company being named the leagues international media distributor and OTT partner.
The partnership will see Sportradar work with the NBL to enhance distribution and coverage for its media rights across broadcast and online platforms around the world, with the goal of bringing live NBL broadcasts to a wider audience by targeting such basketball territories as China, South East Asia, the US, and Europe.
On top of this, Sportradar is also set to become an official integrity partner of the NBL, providing odds monitoring services across the NBL, NBL1 and Big V in order to detect any betting irregularities, with a total of 1,781 matches to be monitored.
Sportradar director of sports media and partnerships for Oceania, David Edwards, said Sportradar will also power the NBL’s OTT platform, using Sportradar’s audio-visual technology and data to deliver the best possible experience for fans around the world.
“There’s no question that the NBL has rapidly become one of the top basketball leagues in the world, with a great mix of homegrown and imported talent across the competition,” Edwards said.
“Sportradar is looking forward to expanding the NBL’s global footprint through our technology-based, data-driven approach to rights distribution, and helping the league unlock new commercial partnerships and opportunities off the back of that increased engagement.
“The Sportradar-powered OTT platform will also be featuring a high volume of live and VOD matches across the NBL1 (state) leagues.
“We’re proud to help showcase the next generation of Australian basketball talent via a single dedicated streaming service for the very first time,” he said.
The NBL’s chief commercial officer, Brad Joyner, said: “The Hungry Jack’s NBL is delighted to work with Sportradar.”
“Through a combination of the NBL’s local market reputation and growing fanbase and Sportradar’s focus on integrity and technology excellence proven in global markets, we feel confident that we can expand the NBL’s sphere of influence together and I very much look forward to seeing it happen,” Joyner said.
This announcement follows a recent partnership announcement from the NBA, with Sportradar to continue holding non-exclusive rights to distribute the official NBA and WNBA betting date to betting operators in the US.