North America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced that the 2023-24 regular season delivered record-breaking engagement in Europe and the Middle East (EME) across the NBA App, NBA League Pass, and the league’s 18 localized social media accounts.
The NBA had its most-viewed season ever across the league’s social and digital platforms in EME, passing 1 billion video views in the region for the first time.
More than 700 million views came from the league’s accounts in Europe alone, the most among the major US professional sports leagues in Europe this season.
The league’s 18 localized social media accounts in EME, meanwhile, which feature content in eight languages, generated a 100% year-over-year increase in views, with social media followers in the region increasing by more than 50% year-over-year.
Watch time on the NBA Europe YouTube channel increased by 220% year-over-year, with viewership on the NBA App in EME up by 39% year-over-year.
Additionally, four European NBA players were among the 10 most-viewed players globally on NBA social media this season, with Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs; France; 1.3 billion views; 3rd overall), five-time NBA All-Star Luka Dončić (Dallas Mavericks; Slovenia; 1.2 billion views; 4th overall), two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets; Serbia; 618 million views; 6th overall) and two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; 558 million views; 8th overall), on that list.
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In terms of country and region-specific EME figures for the 2023-24 season, viewership of Spurs games on NBA League Pass in France increased by 177% year-over-year driven by Wembanyama’s standout rookie season, with his dunk against the Boston Celtics on December 31, 2023 being the second most-viewed video ever on NBA social media.
Meanwhile, out of all European countries, Germany has the most NBA League Pass subscribers, driven by the performance of brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner for Orlando Magic, with time spent watching Magic games on NBA League Pass in Germany having increased by 47% year-over-year.
In Spain, the average TV viewership of NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays, which this season features more than 40 weekend games airing in primetime in EME, increased by 48% year-over-year on Movistar. On NBA League Pass, Spanish influencers Drafteados’ alternate in-language stream generated more time spent watching than any non-team-specific alternate stream globally.
Turkey ranks third among followers of the NBA on X, behind only the US and the Philippines, driven in part by Alperen Sengun’s breakout season for the Houston Rockets. NBA League Pass subscriptions in Turkey increased by 41% year-over-year.
Finally, driven by The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023, which featured the Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves playing two preseason games in October, the NBA Arabic Instagram account generated a 279% year-over-year increase in engagements.
Last week, the NBA announced that financial technology firm Koho will serve as the presenting partner for its post-season playoffs in Canada.
Koho, which will also present the NBA’s playoff sweepstakes competition, will activate around the playoffs in Canada to offer NBA fans experiences through the postseason.
The NBA 2023-24 playoffs began on April 20 and will conclude with the Finals in June.
