The NBA 2K League, the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) esports competition, has announced internet services provider Tencent as its first distribution partner in China.
The deal, signed with Tencent Holdings Limited, will see the platform stream condensed games from this year’s NBA 2K League play-offs and finals across Tencent Sports, Tencent Video and Tencent News.
Starting with the best-of-three quarterfinals on 24th July, Tencent, which claims to have ‘hundreds of millions’ of daily users, will broadcast coverage of select play-off fixtures and all games from the best-of-five finals.
Tencent has an existing relationship with the NBA, serving as the North American basketball league’s exclusive online digital partner in China. The company is also a major player in the esports industry, with video games giant Riot Games, the publisher of League of Legends, among its subsidiaries.
“The NBA 2K League is a world-famous professional esports league,” said Tencent Sports general manager Ewell Zhao. “Tencent Sports hopes the NBA 2K League will provide a new way to bring the charm of basketball and sports to more people.”
The deal widens the NBA 2K League’s global distribution, building on a partnership signed in April with video-sharing platform YouTube to simulcast all games livestreamed on the competition’s Twitch channel.
“Today is another incredible step forward in the NBA 2K League continuing to grow as a global league,” added NBA 2K League managing director Brendan Donohue. “Tencent is the ideal partner to distribute our games and bring the excitement of the NBA 2K League to fans in China, and this partnership illustrates the popularity of esports and interest in the NBA 2K League among its hundreds of millions of daily users.”
The NBA 2K League, the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) esports competition, has announced internet services provider Tencent as its first distribution partner in China.
The deal, signed with Tencent Holdings Limited, will see the platform stream condensed games from this year’s NBA 2K League play-offs and finals across Tencent Sports, Tencent Video and Tencent News.
Starting with the best-of-three quarterfinals on 24th July, Tencent, which claims to have ‘hundreds of millions’ of daily users, will broadcast coverage of select play-off fixtures and all games from the best-of-five finals.
Tencent has an existing relationship with the NBA, serving as the North American basketball league’s exclusive online digital partner in China. The company is also a major player in the esports industry, with video games giant Riot Games, the publisher of League of Legends, among its subsidiaries.
“The NBA 2K League is a world-famous professional esports league,” said Tencent Sports general manager Ewell Zhao. “Tencent Sports hopes the NBA 2K League will provide a new way to bring the charm of basketball and sports to more people.”
The deal widens the NBA 2K League’s global distribution, building on a partnership signed in April with video-sharing platform YouTube to simulcast all games livestreamed on the competition’s Twitch channel.
“Today is another incredible step forward in the NBA 2K League continuing to grow as a global league,” added NBA 2K League managing director Brendan Donohue. “Tencent is the ideal partner to distribute our games and bring the excitement of the NBA 2K League to fans in China, and this partnership illustrates the popularity of esports and interest in the NBA 2K League among its hundreds of millions of daily users.”
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