Internet giant Tencent to stream American basketball games in China
PUBLISHED ONJanuary 31, 2015 12:23 PMByYu Nakamura
GUANGZHOU, China - Internet services company Tencent Holdings has signed an exclusive agreement with the National Basketball Association to stream US professional basketball games here.
Tencent did not disclose the cost of the deal, announced Friday. But the five-year contract, which starts July 1, is broader in scope than anything the NBA has signed with an Internet company to date.
From the 2015-16 season, Tencent will stream all NBA league games live on its platforms for computers and smartphones. The partners will also offer past games and other basketball content.
Basketball is immensely popular in China, rivaling football in status. Tencent stole the ball from rival Internet company Sina, which has had exclusive streaming rights to live NBA games until now.