NBA @ Telemundo.

The National Basketball Association has reached an agreement with Telemundo to televise NBA, WNBA games and programming in Spanish in the U.S. for the next three seasons.

The agreement, which makes Telemundo an official Spanish language television network of the NBA and increases the league’s network television exposure, calls for Telemundo to televise 15 regular season NBA games live on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, as well as up to 10 WNBA games beginning with the 2003 WNBA season. The network, in conjunction with NBA Entertainment, will also create a new weekly 30-minute youth oriented basketball highlight show. The NBA All-Star Read to Achieve Celebration, a celebration of reading and a highlight of the NBA’s Read to Achieve program, will also be televised on mun2 in February.

“The NBA has undertaken an integrated marketing program directed to the Hispanic market, the fastest growing demographic in the U.S.,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern. “This new partnership with an exciting and progressive Spanish-language television network, will not only bring 15 more regular season games to network television, but will also be one of the pillars of our efforts.”

“We are pleased to partner with Telemundo to present Spanish language network television games and programming to U.S. based Hispanic NBA and WNBA fans,” said Arturo Nunez, Managing Director of NBA Latin America. “With 38 million Hispanics living in the United States and 11 NBA teams located in the top 10 U.S. Hispanic markets, this partnership is a integral part of our efforts to reach one of the nation’s most important ethnic groups.”

“Telemundo is excited and gratified to be an NBA’s Spanish-language television partner,” said James McNamara, President and CEO of Telemundo Communications Group, Inc. “By choosing to align with Telemundo, the NBA has affirmed Telemundo’s position as the most innovative U.S. Spanish-language network and the leader in Spanish-language sports.”

“We are thrilled to be an official Spanish-language network of the NBA,” said Jorge Hidalgo, Senior Vice President of Telemundo Sports. “The NBA is the fastest and hottest sports property in the world and it is a dream come true to be able to bring it to the Hispanic audience in Spanish for the first time.”

This is the most recent initiative by the NBA to recognize its increasing Hispanic fan base. The NBA unveiled an aggressive U.S. Hispanic marketing plan in February at NBA All-Star 2002 and has since implemented several initiatives for Spanish speaking fans in the U.S, including providing the 2002 NBA Finals in Spanish via television, radio and the Internet.

Currently, eight NBA teams have Spanish language radio broadcast packages in their local markets and, in addition to the popular NBA.com/espanol Web site, five NBA teams provide Spanish content as part of their Web sites.

The NBA has one of the largest and fastest growing Hispanic fan bases in U.S. pro sports. Approximately 64% of Hispanics are NBA fans and Hispanics make up 13% of the total NBA fan base. Hispanics make up a larger percentage of the total NBA fan base than they do for any of the other three major U.S. pro sports leagues (ESPN Sports Poll–Full Year 2001).

The number of Hispanic players in the NBA has increased every year. As of today, there are currently seven on team rosters, including Rookie of the Year Pau Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies/Spain); Felipe López (Minnesota Timberwolves/ Dominican Republic); Eduardo Nájera (Dallas Mavericks/ Mexico); Oscar Torres (Houston Rockets/ Venezuela); Milt Palacio (Phoenix Suns/ Belize); Raul Lopez (Utah Jazz/ Spain); and Emanuel Ginobili (San Antonio Spurs/ Argentina). The emergence of these players has aided the NBA’s efforts to build on the growing Hispanic fan base.