NBA League Pass offers fans worldwide the “Multiview” function

NBA League Pass is one of the NBA’s biggest products in well over a decade, offering fans around the world the opportunity to catch NBA action both live and through replays.

It’s no surprise that the league is once again offering new additions to its service. This year the focus is on Multiview, a feature that allows fans to watch four feeds simultaneously on connected devices.

The service was announced alongside a new original called Pass The Rock: Rookie Year Edition, which follows Victor Wembanyama’s journey from shining rookie to winning the Rookie of the Year award.

In recent years, NBA League Pass has become a major basketball hub for fans both in the United States and around the world. The league offers numerous shows, international league games and original programs. This included broadcasting French league games for the aforementioned Wembanyama when he played for the Metropolitans 92 the year before his arrival in the NBA.

As a result, the NBA has seen an increase in international audiences for its product, particularly in France, which has become the world’s largest producer of NBA talent outside of the United States.

Cooper Flagg, the expected top draft pick in next year’s 2025 NBA Draft, was also heavily featured on the platform before he entered Duke University, which has been atypical for the NBA in the past. This pivot has significantly increased the exposure of young players, giving fans an early look at the game.

Jeff Geels, NBA Senior Vice President, Head of DTC Business, Direct to Consumer Products, Technology & Operations, agreed to an interview with Forbes.com about the status of NBA League Pass heading into the 2024-2025 season.

NBA League Pass has expanded significantly in recent years and has become a kind of basketball Netflix with original programming. Has this always been the league’s vision for League Pass, and if so, could you describe the day-to-day process of building the service?

“When we launched the redesigned NBA app in 2022, we designed the platform with the vision of making it the official home of basketball for our fans worldwide. The idea was to make the NBA app the one-stop shop for all things basketball, be it watching live games on NBA League Pass, accessing all the historical and current behind-the-scenes footage, real-time highlights, or pushing new boundaries when it comes to developing a technology-oriented app.

Every day, our teams of technology professionals and creative specialists work hand in hand to combine world-class features with the unprecedented amount of footage captured across the league throughout the year. As we head into another NBA season, we’re excited to take the NBA app experience to new levels with a range of new features and content designed to make it easier than ever for fans to keep up with the league .”

After trying Multiview on Apple TV, it’s surprisingly intuitive how games are added and how the audio feed changes depending on the remote’s movement. What was the thought process behind Multiview, and could you expand the internet demands of watching four games at once?

“We are constantly looking for ways to reshape the way fans watch games, and Multiview in the NBA app was the natural next step for us. We know that fans often follow multiple players and teams throughout the season. That’s why we’ve been very focused on helping our fans get to the games they care about most as quickly as possible. This – coupled with League Pass’ industry-leading latency – will deliver a significantly improved fan experience.”

Given the aforementioned expansion of NBA League Pass over the years, it’s strange that built-in apps aren’t available on most smart TV brands. Do you plan to do this to compete more with, for example, DAZN, which offers NFL Game Pass?

“NBA League Pass is available on select smart TVs and we plan to expand it further in the future. Making NBA games as accessible as possible across all possible platforms has long been a priority and we are focused on identifying unique ways to deliver the excitement of the league to our fans.”

We’ve already seen significant year-over-year growth in League Pass subscriptions, particularly internationally. With so many European superstars in the NBA at the same time, has this growth continued into the 2024-2025 season?

“There is no doubt that the incredible level of international talent – ​​not just the quantity but also the quality – has helped fuel interest in the NBA from fans in different regions of the world. Europe is no exception. In fact, the 2023-24 regular season delivered record-breaking engagement in Europe and the Middle East (EME) across the NBA App, NBA League Pass and the league’s 18 localized social media accounts in EME. Notably, the NBA recorded its most-watched season ever across the league’s social and digital platforms in EME, surpassing 1 billion video views for the first time in the region. Additionally, NBA League Pass viewership increased by 177% in France. There is so much momentum surrounding the game of basketball, especially after the highly competitive and captivating Olympics last summer, and we look forward to building on the success of last season.”

The NBA has used League Pass to showcase prospects who are not currently playing in the league. Victor Wembanyama’s games from the French LNB and most recently Cooper Flagg, who is expected to be a top pick in next year’s draft. What was the reason for this internal shift in acceptance of players outside of the NBA and how did the consumer respond to these additions?

“We launched the NBA Future Starts Now digital program on the NBA app to introduce fans to the next generation of basketball stars and give them the opportunity to observe emerging talent. As part of this initiative, fans had the opportunity to see Wembanyama play in person before he even reached the NBA and become familiar with his game and unique skills. Similarly, Cooper Flagg was introduced while competing in various elite basketball competitions as well as USA Select Team duels in the summer before the Olympics. Ultimately, we have a very knowledgeable and passionate fan base and we know they are interested in content that highlights the basketball landscape as a whole – beyond just the NBA. In that sense, NBA Future Starts Now serves an important purpose.”