Sports highlights are everywhere these days, but they are still highly valuable assets for the leagues that sell them.
For the first time, The Athletic is forming a new partnership with the NBA and WNBA, which will grant the New York Times-owned sports outlet the rights to use game footage from the two top basketball leagues in the country.
In a press release, the New York Times Co. explained how reporters at The Athletic plan to use these clips. The Athletic’s staff will utilize footage for video breakdowns, including “The Athletic Spotlight,” video essays throughout this year’s NBA postseason and beyond, and a new video commentary series featuring writer Zach Harper.
“By integrating NBA and WNBA highlights into our storytelling, we’re not just showing fans what happened, we’re helping them understand why it mattered,” said The Athletic’s chief commercial and development officer Sebastian Tomich in the press release. “This partnership lets us bring the game to life, giving our readers a richer, more connected experience across every article, recap and analysis.”
On the other side of this transaction, The Athletic will promote live NBA and WNBA game viewership within its content. The press release states that “through an on-ramp of game information and direct links embedded throughout The Athletic’s platform, fans will have the ability to navigate to live NBA and WNBA games.”
Both leagues, bolstered by a lucrative new TV rights deal, are determined to funnel basketball’s popularity online into actual game viewership. This is one creative pathway toward doing that.
However, it would stand to reason that any diehard NBA or WNBA fan that is already subscribed to a paid journalism outlet like The Athletic is probably already paying for cable and streaming services to watch live basketball.
From The Athletic’s standpoint, it shows a real investment into pro basketball coverage. Considering that highlight rights were a significant component of the NBA’s settlement with TNT Sports last year, they are valuable.
In the future, local and national reporters at the company will be able to enhance their coverage with video of the incredible athletes they cover on a daily basis.
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