Euroleague Basketball, the organizer of top European clubs competitions, has renewed its broadcast rights deal in the Baltics with LRT, the Lithuanian public service broadcaster, and TV3 Group, the prominent media company in the region, for another two seasons.
The renewal was brokered by Saran Media Group, the prominent Turkish media operation.
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The agreement prolongs the mixed free-to-air and pay-television model that was first adopted at the start of the 2020-21 season under a three-year deal.
As part of the new contract, which will run through the 2024-25 season, LRT and TV3’s Go3 streaming platform will co-broadcast all games of leading Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas, as well as all games in the second-tier EuroCup featuring domestic clubs.
LRT will show games on either the LRT or LRT Plius channels in its home market, while all EuroLeague matches, including the playoffs and season-ending Final Four, as well as selected EuroCup games will be broadcasted on the TV3 Sport channels and Go3 in all three Baltic states – Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
Lithuania is an important market for the Euroleague and the country hosted its Final Four for the first time at the weekend (May 19 to 21) in Kaunas, which was won by Spanish giants Real Madrid for the 11th time.
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By GlobalDataThe territory is a prominent basketball nation, and Zalgiris are one of 12 clubs in the EuroLeague with a long-term license guaranteeing them a place in the top-tier, 18-team competition.
Zalgiris were ninth in the EuroLeague table last season and qualified for the playoffs where they were defeated by Spain’s Barcelona in the opening round.
TV3 holds rights to several basketball properties in the Baltics including Lithuania’s LKL, North America’s NBA, FIBA, Spain’s Liga ACB, and the Basketball Champions League. The broadcaster airs more than 1000 games across all competitions.
Monika Garbaciauskaitė-Budriene, LRT general director, said: “EuroLeague has a huge demand across Europe, so LRT is happy to collaborate with Go3 television and secure the rights to broadcast highly popular tournaments for a wide audience across Lithuania.
“We know that Lithuanians are probably the biggest fans of basketball, so giving them all the possibility to follow Zalgiris is extremely important for LRT.”
Alex Ferrer Kristjansson, Euroleague Basketball marketing and communication senior director, added: “We are very pleased to extend our ongoing collaboration with TV3 Group, LRT, and Saran Media Group, bringing our games to all our fans in the Baltic region.
“It is very important for us to maintain the free-to-air and pay-tv hybrid model that we started back in 2020 as it has proved to be extremely successful, reaching a 50% audience growth rate during the last season."
