China Mobile, the telecoms giant, has renewed its marketing partnership with North American basketball’s NBA for a further five seasons.
Through the extended partnership, NBA China, the regional arm of the league, will leverage China Mobile’s 5G network services and related technology.
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The company will have several designations including NBA China’s exclusive communications partner, 5G+ full ecosystem partner, 5G+ official laboratory partner and official exclusive video ring back tone partner.
The two parties will collaborate to provide “immersive” live broadcasts for viewers through technological upgrades.
In addition, China Mobile has separately acquired rights to offer the NBA’s League Pass subscription streaming service to fans in the country.
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League Pass will be available through the telecoms firm’s streaming platform Migu and its IPTV service Mobaihe.
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By GlobalDataChina Mobile is a digital media rights-holder for the NBA in China alongside internet giant Tencent, although the latter’s agreement is broader as it has rights to show free live match streams.
The League Pass deal for China Mobile is understood to be for four years and covers games in the regular season and playoffs, including the NBA Finals.
The NBA and China Mobile will also collaborate on off-court initiatives to promote basketball in the country.
The agreement prolongs a multi-platform and content partnership the NBA signed with China Mobile in 2018, which marked Migu’s first tie-up with a US sports league.
China Mobile has stepped up its sports content recently and this year acquired several premium rights including English soccer’s Premier League, France’s Ligue, Italy’s Serie A and the Spanish LaLiga, as well as MMA’s UFC.
The company also agreed a sub-licensing deal with state broadcaster CCTV to show the delayed Uefa European Championships and Tokyo Olympics this year and will additionally show the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Fifa World Cup.
In late 2020, Migu agreed a comprehensive media rights deal with the Asian Football Confederation to show its competitions in China.
Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz have agreed an exclusive, multi-year partnership with Zions Bank.
The Salt Lake City-based company will serve as the official bank of the franchise and retain naming rights to their practice facility.
The exclusive partnership includes the designation of Zions Bank as the presenting partner of the Jazz’s playoff appearances each season.
The bank will also continue as a founding partner and jersey sponsor of the Salt Lake City Stars, the team’s NBA G League affiliate.
Zions Bank will have an expanded relationship with the franchise, including digital and traditional branding at their Vivint Arena home and in-arena, on-air and digital activations during the 41 Jazz regular season home games.
Elsewhere in the NBA, the Orlando Magic have teamed up with Hotel booking company HotelPlanner in a multi-year agreement.
HotelPlanner becomes the preferred hotel reservations provider for the entire Magic organisation, including their players, executives, scouts and fans.
This deal follows HotelPlanner’s recent announcement with the NBA G League.
