Türk Telekom positions BSL as flagship property with record deal

The Turkish Basketball Federation has today (Thursday) sealed a record domestic rights deal for the Super League (BSL) with telco Türk Telekom, which will position the top-tier club competition as its flagship sports product.

The three-season deal will run from 2018-19 to 2020-21 with Türk Telekom to exploit the rights via pay-television platform Tivibu.

The agreement brokered by the Infront agency includes both the men's and women's BSL as well as the Turkish Cup and is the biggest ever investment between the BSL and a broadcaster.

Of the eight games taking place each week in the BSL, six will be on pay-television with the remaining two broadcast on free-to-air channels as well as through the TBF’s YouTube channel. There will also be an improvement in production quality through technological developments planned by Tivibu.

Paul Doany, chief executive of Türk Telekom, said: “We are thrilled to place Basketball Super League as our flagship product as we are in the root of transforming the sports broadcasting strategy of the company. We believe both parties will add significant value to each other.”

Hidayet "Hedo" Türkoğlu, president of the TBF, added: “A very significant point was to provide an enhanced income flow to our clubs in the men’s league and women’s league, while we add significant value to Turkish basketball.

“The main correspondent was to be part of every house in the country, as we signed the deal with Tivibu. We thank Tivibu, as they bid the highest price for the basketball and showed their faith in us, and the future of basketball in Turkey. We believe this agreement will in addition be a milestone in developing Turkish basketball among the youth.”

The BSL’s rights are currently with pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports and the Doğuş Media Group, which hold three-season deals running from 2015-16 to 2017-18.