Tencent Sports announce exclusive partnership with ESPN

The Chinese internet company Tencent has announced today its exclusive digital partnership with ESPN, Inc., the global leading sports content company.

Outline of the Partnership

1. The two sides to Collaborate on Content for Tencent’s Media Platforms in China

2. Tencent Sports, China’s Leading Digital Sports Portal, to Launch New ESPN Section

3. ESPN will Complement Tencent’s Exclusive NBA Coverage with Live Chinese-Language Experts and a Weekly Studio Program

4. Tencent will be Exclusive, Digital Home for NCAA’s March Madness® Basketball Tournaments and X Games in China.

Although the financial terms have not been disclosed, this deal will see Tencent Sports, as the exclusive partner in mainland China, acquire the rights to ESPN’s live broadcasts, event highlights and behind-the-scenes stories. 

This move enables ESPN to provide Chinese fans with exclusive content involving the likes of features, blogs, match data and short videos, covering basketball, football and other sports.

Firstly, under this deal, Tencent Sports will be able to exclusively broadcast sport events held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). These will include 100 NCAA regular games, 67 March Madness matches and about 40 college football matches with their related programmes. Every year, ESPN is going to offer up to 150 hours’ archive footage featuring players like Stephen Curry, Blake Griffin and Dwyane Wade.

Secondly, the X Games, an annual extreme sports event arranged by ESPN, will be introduced into China for the first time via the Tencent platform. In the near future, Chinese viewers will be able to watch at least 25 hours’ content for each X Game. In addition, Its two sister events, World of X Games and Xtraordinary will be included in this deal.

In terms of NBA broadcasts, Tencent have announced the acquisition of the media rights to ESPN’s interviews and analysis during the regular season. The two sides are also planning to launch a weekly NBA talk show in China.

Tencent Sports are likely to provide virtual studios, device supports and special online sections for ESPN to present digital content and to grow its presence in the country.

Source: Tencent

Proofread by John Devlin