The multi-year agreement includes BBL’s domestic UK betting streaming rights, and marks the first time that the data and streaming rights have been packaged together. It will cover the 10 franchise-strong BBL Championship, the end-of-season BBL Play-offs, and knockout competitions, the BBL Cup and BBL Trophy.
“Basketball is a sport that we are incredibly passionate about and committed to helping grow its global reach,” said Mark Wrigley, Senior Director, Rights at IMG Arena.
“The BBL and its competitions are an exciting addition to our portfolio, increasing our offering of premier-level basketball from key territories around the world.”
IMG Arena will capture and deliver FastPath data from over 214 games per season for its network of over 460 sportsbook operators, as well as distributing live streaming for betting.
The deal expands the group’s portfolio of top-tier basketball, which already features EuroLeague, NBL Canada, Italy’s LBA and Spain’s ACB.
As a key partner, IMG Arena will help BBL deliver on its growth strategy, following the latter’s recent £7m ($7.9m) investment from 777 Partners.
BBL COO Andy Webb commented: “BBL has a stated mission to grow basketball and its following in the UK and beyond. Working with IMG Arena helps us to do this by maximising returns from an important commercial asset while also widening BBL’s audience and fan engagement.”
Headquartered in London, IMG Arena’s clients include the ATP, UFC, DP World Tour, and PGA Tour among others.
