The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Nation Media Group (NMG) have announced a partnership to make NTV the official free-to-air broadcast partner of the NBA in Kenya. The first NBA match will be aired on Monday March 8 on NTV when Team LeBron takes on Team Durant in the 70th NBA All-Star Game at 2:30 a.m. EAT.
NTV will broadcast more than 25 live games throughout the second half of the 2020-21 NBA season. These games will include regular-season games, the NBA Playoffs and Conference Finals, and weekly magazine show “NBA Action.”
“We are thrilled to launch our first free-to-air broadcast partnership in Kenya with Nation Media Group. This partnership is part of our continued efforts to make the game of basketball more accessible across the continent, and fans in Kenya will now have an opportunity to follow their favorite players and teams on NTV throughout the season,” said NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams.
On his part, NMG’s Group CEO Stephen Gitagama said, “We are excited to enter into this partnership with the NBA to deliver to Kenyans the beautiful game of basketball. This will be a great addition to the existing array of sports where our NTV audiences can access world-class basketball viewing experience from the comfort of their homes.”
The NBA opened its African headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2010. Opening-night rosters for the 2020-21 NBA season featured a record-tying 14 African players, with more than 100 current and former players with roots in Africa.
NBA programs, including the Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball program for boys and girls, has been implemented in 15 African countries. Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa, the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program, has been held 17 times.
The NBA and SEED Project opened NBA Academy Africa, an elite basketball training center in Saly, Senegal, for the top male prospects from throughout Africa. Since then, nine NBA Academy Africa and NBA Academy Africa Women’s Program participants have committed to NCAA Division-1 schools in the U.S.A.