As reported by BMA’s media sources, Canal+ has partnered with Basketball Africa League (BAL) for a period of three seasons. The agreement will see Canal+ airing the competition across Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar and Mauritius.
The debut of the forthcoming season is set to reach 215 countries and territories and will be covered in 15 different languages.
Basketball Africa League games in partnership with National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federations (FIBA) will be available for viewing on Canal+ and ESPN. The games will broadcast across Francophone and Anglophone countries and territories. Canal+ will also distribute the original ancillary programming, including the weekly magazine show ‘BAL Action’.
Coverage in the US will be via ESPN+ streaming services, while the opening and final games will broadcast on ESPNews. These two significant games will only air in select countries across Asia-Pacific, the Caribbean, Europe, and Latin America. However, all the games will air on ESPN’s digital platforms in those same regions.
Last year, BAL inaugural season was postponed due to the restrictions and regulations brought about by the COVID19 pandemic. The opening season started yesterday with Rwanda Patriots Basketball Club taking on Nigeria Rivers Hoopers at the Kigali Arena in Rwanda.
The complete number of games to be played are 18 games which have been grouped in phases. The twelve teams in the competition have been divided into three groups of four. During the group phase, each team will once face the three other teams in its group.
