Verizon on Wednesday announced a multi-year content and marketing deal with the National Basketball Association (NBA) that will make it the official wireless service provider of the NBA leagues and bring exclusive sports content to its Go90 mobile video service.
According to the terms of the deal, Go90 users will gain access to NBA content such as daily highlights and live streaming of out-of-market games through NBA League Pass, as well as several new NBA series on the mobile video platform.
Under the deal, Go90 users will be able to “to purchase NBA League Pass live game packages including NBA Single Game, NBA Team Pass, or the full season package” to gain access to nearly 1,000 live out-of-market games, Verizon said.
The deal also secures for Verizon a number of prominent marketing opportunities that will see it become a title partner of the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk platform, a presenting partner of the NBA All-Star Balloting Program and a partner of NBA Draft, NBA Summer League and the Jr. NBA. Verizon will also have a marquee partnership with the WNBA beginning in the 2016 season.
Additionally, the NBA has agreed to integrate Verizon into its NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and other NBA Digital assets, along with national broadcast partners ABC, ESPN and TNT. The agreement will also allow Verizon to collaborate with multiple NBA teams.
The move marks the latest step in Verizon’s continued expansion of its G90 mobile video service, on which the company has pinned its future growth prospects.
Launched at the start of October, Go90 rocketed to the top of the iOS Entertainment App charts before settling comfortably within the top 100 entertainment apps in both the iOS App Store and Google Play. As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, Go90 was #10 among iOS Entertainment apps and #14 among Media and Video apps in the Google Play store.
During Verizon’s third quarter earnings call, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said the company is “pleased” with the service’s initial results and reiterated the carrier’s plans to add more content and features to Go90 in the coming months. Shammo said Go90 is currently home to more than 10,000 assets, including content from ESPN, Scripps Networks, CBS Sports, DreamWorks, Vice Media, Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, ID, the Science Channel, Endemol Beyond USA and New Form Digital, among others.
