The NBA is rolling out a newly redesigned app that it hopes will become a one-stop shop for its fans and serve as its digital flagship.
What's the deal?
The NBA App, which took more than two-and-a-half years to design and finish, will serve as a portal to League Pass and NBA TV, and as a store for short- and long-form content. In creation and in its effect, it has the look and feel at times of the NBA’s attempt at making a social media app for its fans, with vertical content and an interface that mimics the ones seen on Instagram and TikTok.
The NBA debuts at the same time as the league has made other changes to its digital offerings. It drastically lowered the price of NBA League Pass this season, down over 50 percent to $99.99. It also cut down on the latency between live games and the broadcasts on League Pass by half, promising a faster and higher quality feed.
The bottom line:
The league began working on the app shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, seeing a change in media and viewership trends and those have only been heightened since then.
Read: The Athletic
Newsletter: 9/29/22 issue
Anthony Caponiti / November 16, 2023
