The Sal’s NBL and Sky Sport have partnered to extend coverage of the 2024 season with Wednesday night games to be broadcast live on Sky’s TikTok platform.
Believed to be a world-first initiative, commencing Wednesday March 27, a weekly game will be available globally on TikTok throughout the season, marking a targeted move by Sky and the League to further its engagement with a growing younger audience.
Recent innovations like Rapid League, player only timeouts, and the unique player draft and competition bubble during Covid in 2020, have helped the Sal’s NBL grow attendances year-on-year for three successive seasons to become one of New Zealand sport’s real success stories.
The Wheeler Motor Company Canterbury Rams and NBS Nelson Giants will make history when they clash in the first of 16 games to be broadcast on Sky Sport TikTok.
Leagues General Manager Maree Taylor says,” TikTok is one on Aotearoa’s most popular social platforms, particularly when it comes to younger fans who are still developing relationships with the sport of basketball.”
“By partnering with Sky Sport in this exciting new space we can bring the game to where our fans are, making it that much easier for fans all across the nation to catch high level basketball in one of the most closely contested competitions in the country’s sporting landscape.”
Sky Sport’s full coverage across the 2024 season will see every game broadcast live on Sky in New Zealand, including every Sunday afternoon live and free to air on Sky Open, with all games available globally on FIBA You Tube and through ESPN in the United States.
Justin Nelson, who heads up Sky’s basketball business, says the move to weekly games on TikTok perfectly aligns with the game’s younger demographic.
“On a weekly basis, basketball is New Zealand’s leading consumer sport for those aged under 35 years old, the game’s popularity is quite staggering. The move to broadcast games on Sky’s TikTok platform will help further extend our coverage to the younger demographic, which is exactly where we want to be with basketball,” said Nelson.
“Excitingly, for our current partners, plus those who are starting to look at basketball as an innovative leader in the entertainment space, the coverage on TikTok enhances the opportunity to commercially connect with basketball’s new and diverse audiences.”
Wade Shipard, TikTok Media Publisher Manager - Sports & Gaming, Content Partnerships AU & NZ, says TikTok is excited to collaborate with Sky Sport New Zealand to bring exhilarating live action to Kiwi basketball fans.
“As a platform, we're elevating sports engagement by enabling people to watch live on their mobile phone from Sky Sports NZ's TikTok account."
With its season 2024 marketing catchcry - Rated E for Entertainment - the Sal’s NBL will certainly be just that!
