Nothin' but net: NBA celebrates a slam dunk at the Paris Games 2025 and outlines the evolution of its European broadcast strategy By Heather McLean
Thursday, February 6, 2025 - 14:56
Print This Story
The San Antonio Spurs' own French superstar, Victor Wembanyama, made a mark on TV, OTT and social media at the NBA Paris Games 2025 [Credit: NBAE/Getty Images]
The NBA Paris Games 2025 featuring the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs in regular-season games on 23 and 25 January set multiple records across television viewership and digital and social media engagement.
Marking the 40th anniversary of the first NBA games in Europe, the matches pulled in global viewers as well as those across Europe and in particular, France, as the Spurs' own French superstar, Victor Wembanyama, made a mark on TV, OTT and social media.
Content across social platforms from the Paris matchups drove them to become the most-viewed NBA Global Games ever on social media, generating more than 718 million views.
The two games, which aired live in France on beIN Sports and Canal+, are the most-watched NBA games ever on television in France. The NBA's premier OTT platform, NBA League Pass, saw viewership up 29% in France versus last year's Paris Game.
Meanwhile, content featuring Wembanyama on social media as he toured Paris last week saw him propelled to become the second most viewed NBA player across @NBA social media accounts this season, with more than 836 million views; a video of him juggling a ball on the Paris Saint-Germain pitch garnered 43.1 million views on Instagram alone.
Interesting journey
On the NBA's success in France, Bastien Lacheny, NBA vice president, global media distribution for Europe and the Middle East, based out of the NBA's London office, tells SVG Europe: We're obviously delighted by the results and the performance of those games, but I think it's fair to say that it's been an interesting journey for the NBA when it comes to playing games in Europe. There's a very strong and long history of basketball and NBA in Europe, and a rich tradition.
Those games [in France] actually marked the 40th anniversary of the first NBA games we had in Europe. We've played 98 games in 10 European countries since 1984, so it's not something that is new. It's always been part of our strategy to try to provide to the local fan, given that most of them won't have the ability to attend an NBA game live in the US; the full experience. Having the ability to do that with Victor Wembanyama, for two games in his home town of Paris was incredible, continues Lacheny.
We were very pleased with the numbers, both on social where we generated the most video views ever for an NBA Global Game, and on linear television, where between BeIN Sports, our historical pay TV partner, and Canal+ that was broadcasting those two games free to air, we were able to achieve also a record number. So it was a fantastic result.
Massive change
The NBA's push for live games in Europe is part of a longstanding strategy of bringing the game to the fan, wherever they might be. However, notes Lacheny, but again, even if we are bringing those games to Europe, it's still only a few games a year .
Therefore the main fan experience for those living in Europe is OTT or linear broadcasts. Comments Lacheny: We've been airing games in the region since 1981, and actually it's a pretty cool story because the first game was the Celtic vs Lakers game on VHS; it was flown over from the US to Italy and hand delivered, so you can imagine the significant delay between the actual game and the viewers!
Fast forward to 2025 and you have the ability either through our broadcast partners that usually in the region are showing one to two games per day, or using our premium subscription service, NBA League Pass, to watch every single game on any device and at any moment, he adds.
So it's a massive change that has obviously been coming from the significant evolution of the media landscape in the region, the enormous growth in interest that we've seen in many European countries since then, and also a very different technological ecosystem.
The NBA is focusing on bringing games to fans in Europe from the US that they can watch without staying up all night waiting for them to start. Lacheny notes: What's pretty singular about the NBA fans in Europe is the fact that a lot of games are in the middle of the night, so this is a different market and different ecosystem that we're trying to address, which is why it's the 12th consecutive season we've scheduled weekend games that air in primetime in the region, creating regular viewing for fans. And we're seeing increased viewership on those game as well in several markets.
A packed house for the NBA Paris Games 2025 [Credit: NBAE/Getty Images]
Booming fandom
Following the NBA Paris games, fandom around the association in France is booming. Things have moved on significantly over the decades, comments Lacheny: I was an NBA fan when I was growing up, and there was literally no French player then. We have a record-tying 14 French players in the league today. And more generally looking at the region, we have 61 of the record-tying 125 international NBA players on opening-night rosters this season that are from [the European] region, which creates a tremendous opportunity for us.
The incredible thing is that these are not just role players, these are some of the best players in the world, he continues. You have Giannis Antetokounmpo in Greece, you have Nikola Joki from Serbia, you have Luka Don i in Slovenia, and you have Victor Wembanyama in France. And so it does reflect on their local markets.
This move has benefitted fans and the NBA is seeing viewing figures in Europe rise as a res
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
16/07/2026
June brought stabilization to the television market. Poles spent an average of 3 hours and 36 minutes a day in front of their TV screens exactly the same as i...
16/07/2026
Glensound returns to IBC with a major new addition to its intelligent loudspeaker range, the Greater Divine Supernal studio monitor, alongside recent developmen...
16/07/2026
33 leading exhibitors are taking part in the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Pavilions and linked locations across IBC2026 (Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September)...
16/07/2026
Hitomi Broadcast will introduce Spectra, a new HDR colour verification solution measured in picture, not using VPID, at IBC2026 (Hall 10, Stand A40). Expanding ...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/07/2026
Zixi, a leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) today announced a strategic new integration to deliver ...
16/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Capture Immersive Flight for New Cirrus App
Brie Clayton July 15, 2026
0 Comments
Leader in Personal Aviation taps URSA Cin...
16/07/2026
XenData Announces LTO Archive Appliances with both File and S3 Object Storage In...
16/07/2026
Onimusha: Way of the Sword is coming to GeForce NOW at launch, with the playable...
16/07/2026
Together the semi-finals had a combined reach of 1.98 million unique individuals...
15/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a big deal for DAZN, which has distribution rights in three markets: Italy, Spain, and Japan. Each requires a different editorial app...
15/07/2026
As sports-media organizations manage rapidly growing content libraries and incre...
15/07/2026
HBS director of digital Johannes Franken talks SVG Europe through the operation built to serve FIFA World Cup 2026 rights holders remotely from Stratford, east ...
15/07/2026
IBC has unveiled the conference program for IBC2026, with this year's event ...
15/07/2026
Software-defined wideband RF platform supports 96-kHz monitoring, streamlined fr...
15/07/2026
New AI-powered module enables broadcasters and content owners to extract dialogu...
15/07/2026
Weeklong gathering at EBU headquarters will test new IPMX capabilities and expand certified product ecosystem...
15/07/2026
Force Tech has announced the appointment of Bryan Adams, CTS, as Vice President of Integration. Adams will oversee AV and broadcast integration project delivery...
15/07/2026
USA Sports has announced an exclusive English-language agreement with the Bundes...
15/07/2026
ITV Sport's FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage has been produced from one of the m...
15/07/2026
Program will provide professional camera kits, training, and technical support to participating local newsrooms...
15/07/2026
San Francisco church becomes first U.S. deployment of the 2 M/E production switcher...
15/07/2026
Former ESPN and NFL Network executive to advise startup league on media, distribution, technology, and fan engagement...
15/07/2026
The Houston-based RSN is the live-game home of the Astros and Rockets...
15/07/2026
Launched alongside new FreqSoft installer
Designed to bridge the gap between hardware and software, Freqport's FreqInOut FO1 unit provides a simple way ...
15/07/2026
Save up to 55% on software until 23 July 2026
Expressive E have just launched their Summer Offer sale, with discounts of up to 55% now applied across their ...
15/07/2026
Real-time stem-separation tool updated
zplane have recently released a new and improved version of their real-time stem-separation plug-in which they say ma...
15/07/2026
A new benchmark in bass enhancement
Described as a new benchmark in bass enhancement , Baby Audio's latest release has been designed to augment the lo...
15/07/2026
DMC Production's AR 1 and AR 2 units reverse the conventional OB workflow, keeping all production-critical processing at the venue while operators work remo...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
GigaCloud, a leading Ukrainian cloud service provider, and Cubbit, the first geo-distributed cloud storage enabler, today announced a new Business Alliance Part...
15/07/2026
SMPTE, the global society for media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has announced the launch of the SMPTE 110th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising...
15/07/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, unveils the new StudioComm Model 762 Stereo Level Control, ...
15/07/2026
COW Jobs: Producer, Virtual Events - Hybrid, Full Time, Salaried
Brie Clayton July 15, 2026
0 Comments
Producer, Virtual Events (Hybrid | Full-time | ...
15/07/2026
Brazilian media organization builds nationwide CDN with Broadpeak's high-performance software for low-latency streaming and new content distribution service...
15/07/2026
DHD announces a new utility designed to increase the efficiency of its audio mixing systems during initial installation and subsequent configuration.
Anyone w...
15/07/2026
BCNEXXT Brings Next-Generation Vipe to IBC2026, Breaking the 1:1 Channel-to-Server Ratio New innovations liberate broadcasters from legacy playout infrastructur...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
General-purpose robots and autonomous machines are moving from research labs to ...
Nothin' but net: NBA celebrates a slam dunk at the Paris Games 2025 and outlines the evolution of its European broadcast strategy By Heather McLean 
