
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 ...
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...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
Meet The Grumpy Onion Ireland's newest online sensation, all he wants is to ...
12/06/2026
RT stays Up All Night with brand new daily 2026 FIFA World Cup Vodcast
Adding to the fun around 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, RT has launched a brand new d...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
11/06/2026
Telemundo will launch its FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage on Thursday, June 11 with...
11/06/2026
FuboTV Inc. has announced a distribution agreement with NBCUniversal. Fubo customers can now stream Telemundo and Universo, with NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced its in-app features for FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage in Spain...
11/06/2026
Roblox has released the 2026 Roblox Digital Expression Report: Wave 4 - Sports D...
11/06/2026
FIFA has unveiled DNA, the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Anthem, performed by A...
11/06/2026
ESPN will provide English- and Spanish-language news and information coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026 across its U.S. media platforms from June 11 through July 1...
11/06/2026
The latest product of the outstanding RIT Sports Network program, this recent grad from Long Island is carving out a promising path in broadcast engineering
In...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced a multi-year agreement to make DSPORTS channels available to ...
11/06/2026
Laura Dern at the 1986 Sundance Institute Directors Lab (Photo by Eric Edwards)
By Lucy Spicer
It takes a village to bring together the Sundance Institute lab...
11/06/2026
As podcast formats evolve in the streaming era, podcasting needs updated, transp...
11/06/2026
As Spotify's global RADAR program enters its sixth year in Italy, a new class of artists is stepping into the spotlight. Today, we're announcing the six...
11/06/2026
Pride Month is a time for celebration, reflection, and amplifying the diverse stories and perspectives from the LGBTQIA+ community that enrich our world. To hel...
11/06/2026
First in new line of muted string libraries
VSL have just announced the launch of two new string libraries that represent the first two instalments in a new...
11/06/2026
New colour option for 61-key Launchkey MK4
At Superbooth 2025, Novation introduced the Launchkey Mini 37 White and Launchkey 49 White, bringing an additiona...
11/06/2026
Larger, but still compact!
Arturia's popular compact MIDI controller keyboard is now available in a, well, slightly less compact version! The new MiniLa...
11/06/2026
Eurosatory 2026: Rohde & Schwarz shapes the new-generation battlefield Rohde & Schwarz unveils next generation SIGINT/EW and CUAS solutions on uncrewed system...
11/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz unveils NEMACS - Directional, ultra secure connectivity for the ...
11/06/2026
MTI FILM acquires Mango/New Edit Posted by MTI Film on June 10, 2026
LOS ANGELES, CA - June 2026 - MTI FILM, the multiple Emmy Award winning Hollywood post-p...
11/06/2026
Study underscores the need for authoritative content intelligence to build trust...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/06/2026
Maxon Brings Real-Time Architectural Visualization to AIA26 With New Redshift fo...
11/06/2026
ABC Kid's Caper Crew Shoots Australian Adventure with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 11, 2026
0 Comments
DP Judd Overton and team bring Wes A...
11/06/2026
PTZOptics, and LayerJot today announced live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how prompt-based AI, robotic camera control, and high-performance computing...
11/06/2026
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management, announces the release of GPIO-Button-10S, a dedicated control interface enabling straightforward press-to-a...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...