NZ NBL to be aired in US live on ESPN

The NZ National Basketball League has secured a ground-breaking deal with US sports giant ESPN to broadcast all of its games across the US.

All 56 games games in the 'Showdown' will air live on ESPN 3 in what general manager Justin Nelson calls a "triumph" for basketball in New Zealand.

As first reported by Newshub, the announcement comes just hours before the competition tips off at West Auckland's Trusts Stadium.

"This is massive," says Nelson. "All 56 games and many hours of New Zealand broadcast sport will be live to the vast sport-hungry audience throughout the US.

"The chance for New Zealand basketball to be shown on ESPN is incredible for our players, the seven competing teams and all of our sponsors.

"This news should reinforce to everyone that basketball is a global sport, and we have the ability to take our game and our commercial partners right around the world. New Zealand basketball is absolutely worth investing in, it is a booming sport across more than two hundred countries.

"This is also an opportunity for us to showcase Auckland and New Zealand globally... we can’t wait to show everyone this beautiful part of the world."

Nelson says the league's inaugural draft last week had caught the attention of a handful of international broadcasters, and the negotiations had flowed from there.