The NBA is launching a new “Tap to Watch” feature through the NBA App and team and league websites as well as external partner platforms to help fans online locate and watch live games more easily under a new broadcast partnership with ESPN, NBC and Amazon that starts next week.
Now that each national NBA game will be available on a streaming platform (either the ESPN app, Peacock or Prime Video) under the new broadcast deal, the league is working hard to create a seamless experience for fans to access these games online. Tap to Watch will also serve as a guide for local games, which are largely available through team-managed streaming services or the FanDuel Sports Network app.
League partners such as Google, Meta, X, Snap and Reddit will house Tap to Watch functions as well, with the league planning further integration with FanDuel, Fanatics and Yahoo as the season goes on.
The league’s head of NBA App, Sara Zuckert, told Awful Announcing that the league’s goal is get fans from a digital platform to a game stream in as few clicks as possible. If fans are already subscribed to the service where the game is airing, the experience should be relatively seamless. If they are not subscribed, they will be prompted to do so.
“The timing was certainly right here,” Zuckert said. “We recognize there may be questions from fans this season with two new partners on board, and so Tap to Watch is really designed to bring fans into the games wherever they are, and streaming opens up that ability for our fans who are already consuming NBA content on digital platforms.”
In addition, the NBA announced that the NBA App will feature real-time scores fed directly from arena scorekeepers, with little to no latency.
“The NBA App is really about telling fans about the biggest moments of the night and how to tune in live,” Zuckert said.
Earlier this week, the league relaunched NBA TV, which features more digital-first content that overlaps with fans’ experience on the NBA App. After moving on from a long-running partnership with TNT Sports on television and digital production, the league is creating an ecosystem that scoops fans into the live game audience no matter what content they may consume.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.