Netflix is looking to possibly become a bigger player in broadcasting live sports. And the NBA's latest venture is apparently offering them a possible in-road.
According to John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, Netflix "has expressed some interest" in acquiring the rights to the new NBA In-Season Tournament. Currently, the NBA's two leading broadcast partners, ESPN and Turner Sports, have the streaming rights. A deal with Netflix would continue the league's push to stream their content, as they've done with Warner Bros. and streaming games on MAX.
Though a deal between the NBA and Netflix is anything but certain, the streaming giant offers more than just the live sports aspect to the league. As Ourand noted, a partnership with the NBA could allow Netflix to produce additional content for fans to watch on their platform, including documentaries and other possible shows or films.
NBA In-Season Tournament's success indicated by Netflix interest
All indications from fans, media coverage, and now Netflix's reported interest are that the NBA In-Season Tournament has been a massive success thus far. While it's obviously not the postseason, the tournament has drawn more fan interest for November games than there otherwise likely would've been, which is a victory for the league.
Fans online, particularly on social media, have seemed to be more engaged at this point on the calendar than in years past. That justifies the NBA's push behind this tournament.
As it pertains to Netflix, though, the success of any additional content that would be produced might come down to the access that the league allows the producers and directors. That will likely be something that is heavily weighed in any potential future negotiations.
Streaming platforms' desire to break into the live sports medium is nothing new, though it is relatively new for Netflix. However, the streaming giant has had tremendous success with ventures documenting F1 with Drive to Survive, the PGA Tour with Full Swing, and so on. Perhaps the NBA will be next with the live-streamed In-Season Tournament as part of that.