Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Google Inc.’s YouTube is in talks with the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League to show live games, building on the popularity of cricket’s Indian Premier League last year, a Google executive said.
YouTube aims to show more live sports in the second half of the year, said Gautam Anand, Google’s director of content partnerships for Asia Pacific, in an interview in Seoul yesterday. Google is in talks with “most pro sports leagues†including the NBA and NHL, as well as soccer leagues in Europe, Brian Suh, head of YouTube Partnership at Google’s Korean unit, said separately.
Adding live sports broadcasts may help YouTube expand revenue by keeping viewers on its site longer to woo more advertisers. YouTube’s contract to show cricket from the Indian Premier League, which gives the Google unit a share of ad revenue from games and the league’s website, brought in 55 million visits from more than 250 countries, Anand said.
“It’s fair to say that there will be a lot more appealing sports content you’ll see on YouTube,†Anand said. “We have ongoing conversations with pretty much everyone.â€
NHL spokesman Michael DiLorenzo said in a telephone interview that the league is not in talks to stream live games over YouTube, nor has it been in discussions about it.
Michael Bass, senior vice president for marketing communications at the NBA, said, “We’re pleased that YouTube recognizes the value of live sports.â€
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Google shares dropped 3.2 percent to $610.21 in Nasdaq trading yesterday.
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