Top Turkish broadcaster to position Tahincioğlu Basketball Super League as central pillar in digital transformation
Istanbul, Turkey – The Tahincioğlu Basketball Super League (BSL) will reach a broader audience than ever after Infront Turkey and Turkish broadcaster Tivibu announced a three-year broadcast rights agreement on Thursday.
The new partnership will see Tivibu position BSL as a flagship product with the league becoming a central pillar to its digital transformation.
The agreement includes both the men's and women's BSL as well as the Turkish Cup marking the biggest ever investment between the BSL and a broadcaster.
With over 1.5 million subscribers Tivibu is one of Turkey's top online sports broadcasters. With a focus on digitally transforming the traditional broadcast model, the organisation's strong social media presence will see BSL enhance and expand its influence to a wider range of sports fan.
Of the eight games taking place each week in the BSL, six will be on PayTV with the remaining two broadcast on free-to-air channels as well as through the Turkish Basketball Federation YouTube channel. There will also be an improvement in production quality through strong technological developments planned by Tivibu.
Tivibu's experience in delivering a digitally enhanced product also opens up new opportunities for sponsors, increasing the value of the league further. Furthermore, Tivibu's parent company, Turk Telekom, will also provide support with its 45 million unique mobile users, expanding the presence of BSL to sports fans.
Paul Doany, CEO of Turk Telekom said: "We are transforming the traditional broadcasting strategy to a customer friendly, tech-based, rich in context broadcasting landscape. With 2.9 million subscribers, we are creating and broadcasting a unique experience through a rich variety of channels including 15 sports channels.
We are thrilled to place the BSL as our flagship product as we continue to transform the sports broadcasting strategy of the company. We believe both parties will add significant value to each other."
Ender Uslu, Managing Director of Infront Turkey, added: "Tivibu has made their intention of digitally transforming broadcasting clear, and this aligns perfectly with how BSL and Infront foresee the future of the league. Their strong presence across a range of digital channels as well as their belief that basketball through the BSL will attract younger subscribers underlines the fact that the league remains one of the strongest basketball properties in the world. I am delighted with this new agreement and look forward to working together to take the sport to new heights."
Hidayet Türkoğlu, President of Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF) said: "This is an historical agreement signed between TBF and Tivibu. A very significant aspect was to provide an enhanced income flow to our clubs in the Men’s League and Women’s League, while adding significant value to the Turkish Basketball. The main aim was to be in every house in the country. We thank Tivibu after they bid the highest price for basketball and showed their faith in us and the future of basketball in Turkey. We believe this agreement will be a milestone in developing Turkish Basketball for the next generation."
Infront is a leading sports marketing company managing a comprehensive portfolio of top properties. Infront covers all aspects of successful sporting events, including the distribution of media rights, sponsorship, media production, event operation and digital solutions. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Infront has a team of more than 1,000 staff working from over 38 offices across more than 14 countries, delivering 4,100 event days of top class sport around the world every year. In 2015, Infront was integrated into Wanda Sports Group, part of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group.