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League/Tournament Brands:
- Tencent Holdings will stream NBA 2K League games via its platforms in China.
- Condensed versions of Playoffs and Finals games will stream via Tencent Sports, Tencent Video, and Tencent News, which collectively have hundreds of millions of daily users.
- The NBA has had a partnership with Tencent since 2015 to broadcast league games in China.
The NBA 2K League 
today announced a partnership with Tencent Holdings which will see the Chinese multinational investment holding conglomerate stream shortened versions of this season’s Playoffs and Finals games via its online platforms.
Tencent will stream condensed versions of select NBA 2K League Playoffs games and all Finals games via its Tencent Sports, Tencent Video, and Tencent News platforms in China. The portals collectively have hundreds of millions of daily users, according to a release.
The NBA 2K League Playoffs begin tomorrow, July 24, and lead up to the NBA 2K League Finals on Saturday, August 3. Collectively, the Playoffs and Finals have a total prize pool of $720K USD, with $360K of that going to the eventual champions. The entire season has a $1.2M prize pool.
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“Today is another incredible step forward in the NBA 2K League continuing to grow as a global league,” said NBA 2K League managing director Brendan Donohue, in a release. “Tencent is the ideal partner to distribute our games and bring the excitement of the NBA 2K League to fans in China, and this partnership illustrates the popularity of esports and interest in the NBA 2K League among its hundreds of millions of daily users.”
The National Basketball Association itself signed a five-year partnership with Tencent in 2015 to broadcast games via its networks and help grow the league in the country. The NBA has also partnered with local companies Alibaba , China Mobile, and Bytedance. According to a CNBC report from April, the NBA reached 640M people in China with league content during the 2017-2018 season.
