I am the deputy commissioner of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC) and I wanted to quickly reach out to you.
I had a chance to read your editorial (“High stakes in pro sports,” Cape Breton Post, Aug. 6) on the future of sports during the pandemic and I thought it was very well written.
The only item I wanted to raise was your point around online subscription-based services that would allow fans to consume content from sports leagues.
I just wanted to bring to your attention that NBLC launched its own pay-per-view platform last season called NBLC Live and it follows a similar model to that of NBA’s League Pass.
To further promote the platform, the league introduced Friday Night Hoops which basically aired a free game on Friday nights throughout the 2019-20 season.
If there isn’t a game scheduled on a Friday, the same offer we will be made on Saturday night and it will be called Saturday Night Special.
The goal from the implementation of the platform was to provide fans with a quality viewing experience and significant improvements were made in the second year to support this.
Thanks again and all the best.
Audley Stephenson
Toronto