Philadelphia 76ers forward Adem Bona (pictured) is one of the growing number of African-born players in the NBA.

Media giant Canal+, which recently closed its acquisition of African TV heavyweight Multichoice and its Supersport TV channel, has announced it has acquired the rights to basketball’s elite NBA in the English and Portuguese-speaking areas of the continent.

Supersport will host NBA action for the first time since the 2015-16 season, with games also to be streamed on the Showmax OTT platform, with highlights to feature on Supersport’s digital and social media channels.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Go deeper with GlobalData

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more

This will include coverage of the regular-season, post-season playoffs, and the all-star weekend.

Speaking on the agreement Rendani Ramovha, Canal+ director of sports content for English and Portuguese-speaking Africa, commented: “

“The return of the NBA to SuperSport is a significant moment that illustrates our commitment to bringing the best international competitions to our viewers across the continent.

“This agreement is crucial for the development of basketball in Africa, and we are thrilled to offer our subscribers a front-row seat to the most exciting league in the world.”

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

Supersport’s English-language NBA coverage will be available in over 50 countries in all, and, in addition to Canal+’s existing hold on the French-language rights across the continent, means that the media giant has consolidated its grip on the NBA in one of the league’s biggest international markets.

A growing portion of NBA’s player base hail from Africa, most prominent perhaps being Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid (who was born in Cameroon but represents the US.

Other prominent names include Pascal Siakam (Cameroon), Jonathan Kuminga and Bismack Biyombo (Both DR Congo), Adem Bona and Josh Okogie (Both Nigeria), Mouhamed Gueye (Senegal), and Khaman Maluach and Duop Reath (South Sudan).