The 2019-20 British Basketball League (BBL), Cup, Trophy and Play-Off games will be free-to-view on the BBL’s dedicated YouTube channel this season.
The season starts on Friday 20 September 2019 and in an unprecedented move for a top-tier UK professional sporting league – BBL games will be available for fans to view completely subscription and charge free. Games will be able to be viewed either live or on-demand. The flexibility of being able to watch basketball action at a time that best suits fans reflects the habits of how viewers are increasingly choosing to consume major sporting events and occasions.
On-demand, edited game highlights and the traditional top plays of the week will be joined by a new YouTube social show. The show is currently in development but will provide a platform for players, coaches and fans to debate the hot-topics from the weeks’ sporting action. This ‘magazine-style’ show is scheduled to be launched in early-December 2019 to coincide with league games commencing and will have numerous inter-active elements to it. These features will allow fans to be able to shape the actual content of subsequent episodes which, again helps meet growing consumer demands for a more involved and immersive experience.
Bob Hope, BBL’s Commercial Director said: “I am delighted to be able to announce that barring venue changes and access challenges, the vast majority of BBL games will be made available on YouTube. Being in control of our broadcast rights and moving all the action free-to-view will be a real game-changer. This move will allow increased viewing opportunities for our existing fanbase and will act as a prominent shop-window for attracting new fans to the BBL.”
“This exciting move will see more eyes on the sport than ever as there is a significant younger audience out there that we wish to engage with - this audience is of the generation that is not accustomed to paying for their sporting content, so with this move we are addressing their needs.”
This announcement is central to BBL`s overall media strategy of driving new audiences to the sport by offering a compelling mix of live free-to-view games along with video-on-demand, highlight packages and short-form game snippets. This is a first in the history of the league.
Every BBL game will be made available on YouTube withstanding venue changes or unforeseen access or technical circumstances. Further broadcast announcements will be made shortly.
To never miss a minute of any of the forthcoming British basketball action, fans are being encouraged to subscribe to the BBL YouTube channel, clicking the reminder bell or visiting www.bbl.org.uk and signing up for the BBL newsletter.
