ESPN Africa, the sports branch of the US broadcasting giant, has secured exclusive English-language pay-TV rights for the 2026 NBA Finals across sub-Saharan Africa through a multi-year agreement with the prestigious basketball league.
From June 3 to June 19, ESPN will air every game of the finals, featuring the Eastern Conference champions, the New York Knicks, as they face either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs.
Games will be broadcast live at 2:30 AM Central Africa Time.
Under this multi-year deal, ESPN Africa will also broadcast NBA Sunday Night games throughout the regular season, alongside playoff coverage, including both conference finals and the NBA Finals.
Kyle de Klerk, the sports director at The Walt Disney Company Africa, expressed excitement about the partnership: “The NBA is one of the most revered sports franchises worldwide, boasting a dedicated fan base in Africa. We are delighted to provide audiences with exclusive access to the NBA Finals for the next three seasons, including the Conference Finals and Sunday Night games. This is world-class basketball entertainment featuring superstar players, thrilling rivalries, and unforgettable playoff moments.”
Coverage will be available on ESPN’s linear channels, with broadcasts also streaming on Disney+ in South Africa.
This agreement follows shortly after the SportyTV broadcaster secured free-to-air rights for the NBA in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, intensifying competition for ESPN Africa in several markets.
A notable number of NBA players are emerging from Africa, including Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon but represents the US. Other prominent players include Pascal Siakam (Cameroon), Jonathan Kuminga and Bismack Biyombo (DR Congo), Adem Bona and Josh Okogie (Nigeria), Mouhamed Gueye (Senegal), and Khaman Maluach and Duop Reath (South Sudan).
In addition, media giant Canal Plus holds broadcasting rights for the NBA in English and Portuguese-speaking regions of Africa, following an agreement reached last November. As a result, games are aired on SuperSport, which Canal Plus acquired through its purchase of the major African TV company, MultiChoice.
So far, the NBA playoffs have seen a significant boost in domestic viewership in the US, a trend that international broadcasters aim to replicate.
The increasing rivalry between the Thunder and Spurs has gained steam this season, making a potential playoff series between the two teams particularly appealing to broadcasters. Notably, NBC gained substantial viewership for game one.
The opening game of the Western Conference Finals (WCF), featuring the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, attracted an average of 9.16 million viewers across NBC’s linear channel and Peacock streaming service, marking the largest audience for a WCF opener and the highest for a Conference Finals opener since the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls in 2011.
Overall, the 2025-26 NBA season has experienced strong viewership trends as it begins a new media rights cycle, and the playoffs are following suit. NBCUniversal-owned networks are averaging 5.8 million viewers per game across 21 playoff games, while Disney-owned ESPN and ABC report strong numbers of 4.2 million, and streaming-only platform Prime Video averages 3.8 million viewers.
