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The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) League Pass has recorded huge consumer growth driver by the popularity of the league’s overseas players, including a 400 per cent spike in subscriptions to the over-the-top (OTT) service in Serbia.
According to the league’s latest data, Denver Nuggets’ Serbian centre Nikola Jokić has been instrumental to that huge increase in subscribers in his native country throughout the 2018/19 season.
Similarly, Slovenian star Luka Dončić, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks, has also spearheaded a 186 per cent rise in League Pass subscribers in his native country.
Overall, the NBA’s international viewership grew by 15 per cent over the past season, while watch time via the NBA League Pass – which is produced in collaboration with US media company Turner Sports – also rose by 16 per cent globally.
Elsewhere, the NBA also experienced a 30 per cent spike in League Pass subscribers in the UK, driven primarily by the nation’s love for the Los Angeles Lakers and star forward LeBron James.
The Lakers were found to be the most popular franchise to watch in the UK, despite failing to reach the NBA playoffs, while this year also marks the first time since 2005 that James, who moved to the Lakers from the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer, has not featured beyond the regular NBA season.
The UK now ranks fifth in the number of League Pass subscriptions among markets outside the US and China – behind Australia, Brazil, Canada and the Philippines.
NBA revealed last month that subscriptions outside the US have risen by 21 per cent throughout the 2018/19 campaign.
Its surge in overseas viewership could well be the result of changes to the NBA’s global digital offering which came into play earlier this year and now includes an option on its International League Pass that allows fans to buy any ten-minute period in a game for US$0.99.
The move followed a pilot in Canada including skewed payments for coverage from NBA games featuring the Toronto Raptors.
The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) League Pass has recorded huge consumer growth driver by the popularity of the league’s overseas players, including a 400 per cent spike in subscriptions to the over-the-top (OTT) service in Serbia.
According to the league’s latest data, Denver Nuggets’ Serbian centre Nikola Jokić has been instrumental to that huge increase in subscribers in his native country throughout the 2018/19 season.
Similarly, Slovenian star Luka Dončić, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks, has also spearheaded a 186 per cent rise in League Pass subscribers in his native country.
Overall, the NBA’s international viewership grew by 15 per cent over the past season, while watch time via the NBA League Pass – which is produced in collaboration with US media company Turner Sports – also rose by 16 per cent globally.
Elsewhere, the NBA also experienced a 30 per cent spike in League Pass subscribers in the UK, driven primarily by the nation’s love for the Los Angeles Lakers and star forward LeBron James.
The Lakers were found to be the most popular franchise to watch in the UK, despite failing to reach the NBA playoffs, while this year also marks the first time since 2005 that James, who moved to the Lakers from the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer, has not featured beyond the regular NBA season.
The UK now ranks fifth in the number of League Pass subscriptions among markets outside the US and China – behind Australia, Brazil, Canada and the Philippines.
NBA revealed last month that subscriptions outside the US have risen by 21 per cent throughout the 2018/19 campaign.
Its surge in overseas viewership could well be the result of changes to the NBA’s global digital offering which came into play earlier this year and now includes an option on its International League Pass that allows fans to buy any ten-minute period in a game for US$0.99.
The move followed a pilot in Canada including skewed payments for coverage from NBA games featuring the Toronto Raptors.
