DIGICEL SPORTSMAX SECURES NBA RIGHTS

Tuesday 31^st March 2015 – Kingston, Jamaica

 









        

• Multiyear Deal Sees Caribbean Channels Broadcasting the League 

• Digicel becomes the Official Partner of the NBA in the region

Digicel and the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today a new multiyear partnership that will deliver live games and extensive NBA programming to more than 30 Caribbean territories and make Digicel the Official Partner of the NBA in the region.

Digicel SportsMax will broadcast up to 48 NBA regular-season games and as many as eight playoff games each season.  The sports channel will also offer fans content-rich programming including the highlights show ‘NBA Action,’ NBA TV, the league’s 24-hour channel, and select classic games.  The partnership will include NBA broadcasts in Spanish on the CDN SportsMax channel in the Dominican Republic.

By the 2015-16 NBA season, Digicel will launch NBA.com/Caribbean, the first official NBA online destination for Caribbean fans, which will offer extensive and localised NBA editorial and video content.  NBA.com/Caribbean will be the league’s 19^th international web destination. 

Digicel NBA 1 – Left to right: Kelvin Paulino, NBA Senior Manager, Global Media Distribution, Latin America, John Suranyi, Digicel Play CEO, Caribbean, Tanya Lee, Digicel SportsMax Caribbean Marketing Manager; Olly McIntosh, Digicel SportsMax President and CEO; Philippe Moggio, NBA Senior Vice President, Latin America and Kieran Foley, Digicel Group Marketing Operations Director

“We are thrilled to be announcing this deal with the NBA which is the perfect addition to our already top-class line-up of sports programming,” said Digicel SportsMax President and CEO Olly McIntosh.  “For fans, this is a real treat with Digicel SportsMax bringing a true Caribbean feel to the programming and basketball fans closer to courtside than ever before.”

As part of the deal, the NBA, in partnership with Digicel SportsMax parent company, Digicel Group will also establish a grassroots development programme in the Caribbean, beginning with a tip-off event in 2015. NBA coaches, players and legends will participate in the programme, sharing valuable lessons that are useful both on and off the court and teach the core NBA values to young fans of the sport. In addition, the programme will give aspiring young players the opportunity to get up close and personal with the big stars of the NBA with training clinics and games in the USA.

“We are excited to bring our passionate fans in the Caribbean more live games and content through this new strategic partnership with Digicel,” said NBA Senior Vice President, Latin America Philippe Moggio.  “Digicel is one of the Caribbean’s leading operators, and its extensive reach will give our fans more ways than ever to experience the excitement of our game.”

Since its launch in Jamaica in 2001, Digicel has time and again demonstrated its commitment to making sports and sport stars more accessible to its customers across the region and further afield.

Digicel Play CEO, Caribbean, John Suranyi, said; “This landmark new partnership with the NBA, coupled with our acquisition of SportsMax last year – further cements Digicel’s position as the home of top sporting content in the region – and marks a significant step in our evolution from a pure mobile operator to a total communications and entertainment provider.”

Along with the NBA rights, Digicel SportsMax is the regional rights holder of premium content such as Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, The Women’s Tennis Association, The Ashes, Australia and England cricket, IAAF Grand Prix Meets and more.

The territories included in the NBA partnership are Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Martin, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Surinam, Trinidad & Tobago, and Turks and Caicos.

For full broadcast schedule, visit digicelsportsmax.com.

About Digicel Group

Digicel Group is a total communications and entertainment provider with operations in 33 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific.  After almost 14 years of operation, total investment to date stands at over US$5 billion worldwide. 

The company is renowned for delivering best value, best service and best network.  Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean, Central American and Pacific sports teams, including the Special Olympics teams throughout these regions.  Digicel sponsors the West Indies cricket team and is also the presenting partner of the Caribbean Premier League. 

In the Pacific, Digicel is the proud sponsor of several national rugby teams and also sponsors the Vanuatu cricket team.  Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives across its markets and has set up Digicel Foundations in Haiti, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago which focus on educational, cultural and social development programmes. Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information.

About Digicel-Sportsmax

Digicel-SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals. Founded in 2002, Digicel-SportsMax, formerly SportsMax, is the premier broadcaster and rights owner of international sports content to the Caribbean islands under the Digicel Group.  Digicel-SportsMax offers an à la carte subscription sports package called MaxPak in 30 countries, which includes its own channels Digicel-SportsMax and Digicel-SportsMax2 as well as a Spanish language channel CDN-SportsMax – launched in 2013 in the Dominican Republic. The company also targets the Caribbean Diaspora through CEEN, the North American sister channel available in the USA Tri-state (on Cablevision Optimum) and in Canada (on Rogers & Bell Media).  Along with the NBA, Digicel SportsMax is the regional rights holder of premium content such as Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, The Women’s Tennis Association, The Ashes series between Australia and England cricket, IAAF Grand Prix Meets and more.

About the NBA

The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League.  The league has established a major international presence with offices in 13 markets worldwide, games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2014-15 season featured a record 101 international players from 37 countries and territories.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, which is available in 60 million U.S. homes, and NBA.com, which recorded 26.9 billion page views during the 2013-14 season, with more than half of all visitors originating from outside of North America.  The NBA is the No. 1 professional sports league on social media, with more than 800 million likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms.  Through NBA Cares, the league and its teams and players have donated more than $242 million to charity, completed more than 3 million hours of hands-on community service, and created more than 915 places where kids and families can live, learn, or play.