NBA Seals Sina Weibo Partnership

The Chinese division of the North American basketball league the NBA has entered into a multi-year partnership deal with prominent Chinese social network Sina Weibo.

Sina Weibo will serve as the official social media platform to NBA China under the terms of the deal, which will see the platform offer both highlights packages and original programming to users.

The two parties will co-produce the original content, to be distributed via the NBA China, Weibo Sports and Weibo Basketball accounts on the platform.

According to the Caixin website, Weibo chief executive Wang Gaofei said the partnership with NBA China would be the first step in the company’s efforts to top international sports content to Chinese audiences.

In January, Sina Weibo agreed a deal to stream live coverage of NFL American football games. The deal ran until the end of the 2016-17 season, but NFL China managing director Richard Young said at the time that he was confident the agreement would become a long-term partnership.