On Tuesday, Twitch announced it will exclusively stream Team USA’s men’s and women’s squads.
All content will be available at twitch.tv/nba, and replays will be made public soon after the conclusion of live broadcasts.
This means all of the men’s team’s exhibition games prior to the 2019 FIBA World Cup, which will start Aug. 31 in China, will air on Twitch. The first warm-up will be an intrasquad scrimmage between Team USA players Aug. 9 at 10 p.m. EST. The rest of the schedule includes exhibitions against Spain on Aug. 16 at 10 p.m., Australia twice on Aug. 22 at 5:30 a.m. and Aug. 24 at 12 a.m., then Canada on Aug. 26 at 5:30 a.m.
Watch live video from NBA on www.twitch.tv
The Spin on Twitch
Welcome to the future, Team USA.
The Internet and streaming aren’t going anywhere. This will not be the first high-level basketball to be streamed on Twitch, or any similar platform for that matter, and it won’t be the last. Twitch has already hosted G-League games and holds the rights to the NBA 2K League, and plenty of other basketball has popped up on social media outlets, like Twitter airing WNBA games.
Right now, cable is still the giant for sports broadcasting, but that will not remain. Eventually, streaming services will the go-to for live sports content, and basketball won’t be an exception.
There is now an easy way for millions of Americans and basketball lovers across the world to watch Team USA in action, live or otherwise. International basketball in this country has never been at the forefront outside of the two-week window during the Olympics, and even then it’s more about not losing as the premier basketball country in the world than anything else. Providing greater access to great basketball is always a good thing.
Perhaps this deal will help promote the popularity and emphasis on the national teams moving forward. I know I’ll be more likely to watch now.
