NBA 2K League Games Get Live YouTube Simulcasts

The National Basketball Association said live games of its NBA 2K League will be simulcast on live streams by YouTube for the remainder of the season.

The 21 team eSports league, co founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, has been appearing on Twitch. Season two tipped off April 2 with an event offering a prize pool of $120,000 that was sponsored by AT&T, owner of Turner Sports, a longtime NBA television partner.

YouTube will livestream more than 230 regular-season, tournament, playoff and finals games. The season ends Aug. 3

Regular season games take place at the NBA 2K League Studio in Long Island City, N.Y., which is sponsored by Intel.

The NBA’s relationship with YouTube has been growing. The NBA became the first pro sports league with a YouTube channel in 2005. The NBA, WNBA, NBA G League and NBA 2K League YouTube channels have generated more than 5.6 billion combined views.

Last year, YouTube TV became the first presenting partners of the NBA Finals and the WNBA Finals..

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.