Paris (AFP)
The NBA, whose new season has just started, is very caring this year with French viewers, and more broadly European, African and Middle Eastern fans, since it will propose every weekend two matches which will be broadcast in evening in these parts of the world.
Because of the time difference, French fans of American basketball have been used for years to play night owls, with games that can be played at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, especially for teams from the Western Conference.
But this year, the NBA, as part of its "prime time initiative", will propose a record number of matches scheduled for evening hours for French and European viewers, two at each weekend, 48 in all .
"With even more matches scheduled earlier in the day in the United States, French fans will be able to watch live, weekly, prime time matches (...) on Saturdays and Sundays, from the beginning of the season, thus providing fans with complete NBA weekends, "said a statement from NBA France.
This new device will begin this weekend, with the broadcast on BeIN Sports of the match between Miami and Milwaukee, Saturday at 23H00, followed Sunday of the match between Golden State (finalist of the last season) and Oklahoma City at 8:30 pm.
In addition, French fans of the orange ball will be doubly spoiled by the NBA this season since for the first time, a match of the regular season of the league will be played in Paris at the AccorHotels Arena. This "NBA Paris Game 2020", scheduled for January 24, will also be broadcast in the evening by BeIN Sports.
© 2019 AFP