BeIN Sports to broadcast BCL games in North America

On Tuesday, the Basketball Champions League announced it has signed a broadcast agreement with global sports network channel BeIN Sports for the distribution of rights in the United States of America of this fifth season of the competition.

The 2020-21 season of the Basketball Champions League, which begins today, will be shown free-to-air in USA after BeIN Sports, the international pay-television broadcaster, secured the rights.

The competition will be aired on BeIN Sports Xtra, the network’s free, 24/7 English language live sports channel, and also on beIN Sports en Espanol. One Regular Season game per week (and replays) will be broadcasted through to the end of the season. BeIN’s coverage began with the season-opener between Spain’s Iberostar Tenerife and Denmark’s Bakken Bears.

This is a significant agreement for BCL as it represents its first rights deal in North America since the launch of the competition in 2016.

Antonio Briceño, BeIN Sports managing director for North America, said: “The Basketball Champions League is a haven for American and Canadian athletes, many of whom are former NBA and NCAA players. Adding BCL to BeIN Sports’ world-class programming lineup is just one more way we are diversifying to offer entertainment that fits the likes of every sports fan.”

Basketball Champions League CEO Patrick Comninos endorsed the partnership with BeIN. “It is a great pleasure for us to team up with BeIN, a global broadcasting network, specialized in sports and entertainment”, he said. “The Basketball Champions League exposure will be maximised thanks to the broadcasting of the games in USA, and we are glad to see the Basketball Champions League extending its exposure through this digital coverage.”