YouTube TV has continued an aggressive marketing push into sports, signing a deal to put its brand on the NBA Finals.
The pro basketball’s June championship series will now be branded as “The Finals Presented by YouTube TV.” The Google-owned virtual MVPD also carved out rights to similarly brand the WBNA Finals and the NBA G League, the NBA’s developmental league.
The NBA pact follows a similar deal signed earlier by YouTube TV with Major League Baseball, with October-November’s signature seven-game finale being rebranded as “The World Series Presented by YouTube TV.
YouTube TV’s sports deals include on-air callouts, national TV spots featuring players, and in-stadium ads.
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YouTube TV has also announced pacts with the Los Angeles Football Club and Seattle Sounders FC in recent weeks.
The agreement signals a major marketing commitment by Google, which has already paid big money to competitively program its vMVPD with a robust lineup of live channels.
The agreements follow a significant program expansion for YouTube TV, which added NBA TV and MLB TV, as well as Turner Networks, which has broadcast rights to both the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. (YouTube TV upped its base price by $5 a month to $40 following announcement of those carriage deals.)
The Walt Disney Company currently controls the broadcast rights to the NBA Finals, presenting them on ABC.