by Thinus Ferreira
The South African public broadcaster will start showing some American basketball content again after it has signed a broadcast agreement with the NBA to show basketball on its SABC Sport channel.
SABC Sport will show 35 basketball games throughout the 75th season, as well as after that, as part of a multiyear broadcast rights agreement with the National Basketball Association (NBA).
NBA matches that will be shown on SABC Sport include a Christmas Day game, NBA All-Star Saturday Night, Conference Finals
and The Finals (broadcast live or delayed) on SABC1 and the SABC Sport channel on eMedia's Openview satellite service as well as Telkom's video streaming service TelkomONE.
The SABC will also broadcast a weekly magazine show NBA Action covering NBA news and highlights.
The SABC says in a statement that the first live NBA broadcast will kick off with a pre-game live studio
presentation on Saturday 30 October at 22:30, followed by the
inaugural live broadcast of the NBA's 75th "anniversary season" of the Washington Wizards against Boston Celtics.
Due to the time difference between South Africa and America the live or delayed broadcasts will start between 20:00 and midnight on the same Saturday on SABC1 and the SABC Sport channel.
"SABC Sport is incredibly
thrilled to add one of the world's most exciting and respected leagues to its
live sports offering, as we know that there is a sports audience which loves
the game of basketball in Mzansi," says Gary Rathbone, SABC Sport general manager in a prepared statement.
"In bringing this great global sporting
spectacle to our viewers, the SABC will also be setting out to inspire and
entertain a whole new generation of basketball fans all over the country."
Victor Williams, NBA Africa CEO, says "We are thrilled to once again
partner with SABC, beginning with our milestone 75th anniversary season".
"Through this partnership, we look forward to bringing the
excitement of the NBA to more of our passionate fans in South Africa as part of
our continued commitment of making basketball more accessible across the
continent."
