Rudy Fernandez of Real Madrid tussles with Acie Law of Olympiacos Piraeus during the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague final in 2013. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
On Monday, live digital sports provider FloSports announced a multi-year partnership with the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup, the top two tiers of the European basketball system. FloSports will have access to over 250 EuroLeague and 180 EuroCup games as the leagues’ official North American distribution partner.
“Our aim is to provide the most comprehensive basketball coverage to fans across all levels of the game, and partnering with EuroLeague is another positive step for FloHoops,” said Mark Floreani, FloSports COO & Co-Founder, in a statement. “There is no higher level of play outside of the NBA than the EuroLeague, which has been the leader in professional international basketball for nearly 20 years.”
The EuroLeague has produced some of the brightest NBA stars of the last couple of decades. Spanish stars Ricky Rubio and Pau Gasol, and Argentinian Manu Ginobili all played in the EuroLeague before switching to the NBA. Projected lottery pick, Luka Doncic, will soon be able to say the same.
Notably absent from that list, though, are the biggest American names in European basketball from last year: LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball. The Ball brothers represented BC Vytautas, a lowly Lithuanian club far from the heights of the EuroLeague.
Here’s what else you need to know:
– In the last year, FloSports has carried live basketball coverage from the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, the AAU Boys National Championships and even some Big Ten basketball games.
– FloHoops will cover the next two years of EuroLeague’s regular season and postseason, spanning 191 days each year.
– To get access to FloHoops’ live coverage you must be either a monthly or PRO (annual) subscriber.
SportTechie Takeaway
The EuroLeague has been working for several years to grow its audience, and not just in North America. Back in 2015, the organization partnered with NeuLion to stream of games. That allowed users to watch up to four games at once, and gave the EuroLeague to reach a more global reach. Instead, the FloSports partnership will only cover North American.
The league has also tried to combine fantasy sports and live content through the daily fantasy sports provider, DraftKings.
