The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Sky Sports today announced a new four-year broadcast and multiplatform partnership that will see Sky Sports become the NBA’s exclusive broadcast partner and official website operator in the UK and Ireland.

As part of the NBA’s most extensive UK and ROI partnership ever, Sky Sports will broadcast extensive season-long games and programming including more than 170 live games and a record number of live weekend primetime games starting from 8.30pm UK time.

The partnership will also see live games and highlights of the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) starting with the 2019 season that tips off in May.

Sky Sports will also become the NBA’s new online destination for fans in the UK with extensive video highlights, news, stats, scores and original digital content, enabling fans to stay connected to the game whenever, wherever they are.

The NBA’s 73rd regular season tips off on Tuesday, October, 16 with Sky Sports main event airing the opening-night doubleheader featuring the Philadelphia 76ers visiting the Boston Celtics and the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder starting at 1am.

An additional highlight of the 2018-19 season sees the New York Knicks take on the Washington Wizards at The O2 as part of the NBA London Game 2019 presented by Norwegian. Tickets for the NBA’s ninth regular-season game in London, broadcast live on Sky Sports, go on general sale on Friday, October, 19 at 9 am BST at www.axs.com/nbalondon.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland,” said NBA EMEA Vice President, Global Media Distribution, Elsa Memmi.

“With a record number of weekend primetime games, a season-long schedule of live games and programming, and extensive highlights available online and on mobile, Sky Sports will be the true home of the NBA for fans.”

“This is great news for our customers and for NBA fans in the UK and Ireland,” said Sky Sports Managing Director Barney Francis.

“We’re partnering with a really exciting sport that has a fascinating history and an even more compelling future. “With some of the biggest stars in world sport we know the NBA will bring drama and entertainment to our customers week after week, available across our many different platforms.”

As a taste of things to come, fans will be able to experience 48-hours of continuous NBA action on a special Sky Sports Arena takeover starting on Tuesday, October 16 at 6am featuring archived ‘Classic Games’ and specialized programming. The Philadelphia 76ers vs Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors vs Oklahoma City Thunder games will also be simulcast on Sky Sports Arena starting at 01.00am.

Sky Sports Mix, available to all Sky TV customers at no extra cost, will show one match every week with full season coverage across Sky Sports Action, Sky Sports Arena, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports News, Sky will become the true home of the NBA in the UK NBA fans will also be able to access the action contract-free through NOW TV, with passes for Sky Sports access starting at £7.99.

Coverage will include an average of five live games per week during the 2018-19 regular season including 42 games in primetime as part of the league’s NBA Saturdays’ and NBA Sundays’ Europe-wide weekend primetime initiative. Additionally, Sky Sports will broadcast four back-to-back games on Christmas Day from 5pm local time, totaling over 10 hours of live coverage.

Fans can also look forward to marquee year-round events including NBA All-Star, the NBA Playoffs, the NBA Conference Finals, The NBA Finals, the NBA Draft, as well as NBA Hardwood Classic games.

For more information, fans can visit Facebook.com/nbauk, follow @NBAUK on Twitter and @NBAEurope on Instagram. Fans can download the NBA App for news, updates, scores, stats and videos and can download the new ‘e-calendar’ direct to their phones with full broadcast tune-in information here.

For more information about Sky Sports viewers can visit www.skysports.com