Posted By Dan Levine
French audiences will get a proper taste of NBA basketball this season, after the Toronto Raptors and TVA Sports signed off on a deal to broadcast games (Ryan Wolstat, Toronto Sun).
“TVA Sports announced on Monday that a two-year deal has been reached with the Raptors and the NBA to return league games to the French broadcasting airwaves for the first time in 13 years.
Regular season games — Raptors and otherwise — as well as playoff and NBA Finals contests will be part of the package.
Besides hockey, there is a huge demand for football in Quebec and basketball continues to make inroads as well.”
I wouldn’t necessarily have assumed that basketball was very popular in Quebec, but the Wolstat article also brings up the success of Toronto’s sold-out preseason game in Montreal last year. Perhaps there is room for growth in that province, but the team needs to win for any of this to matter.
In any case, French-speaking fans will be pleased. And the Raptors can say they made a significant deal this offseason.