The National Basketball Association (NBA) is expanding its reach and brand beyond its US heartland with the decision to live stream the NBA Finals 2019 to fans in India. They will be able to watch all the action on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The broadcasting got underway with game one, in the early hours of Friday morning, which saw the Toronto Raptors take a series lead over the two-time defending NBA Champions Golden State Warriors.

Defending champions, Golden State leveled the series in Toronto yesterday with a strong performance before the series heads back to California’s Oracle Arena.

Diane Gotua, NBA Vice President of Global Business Operations commented: ”We are always looking to provide our passionate fans in India with more ways to experience the excitement of our games. Streaming this historic matchup on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, along with broadcasting the games across SONY, will deliver unprecedented access to the NBA Finals.”

Along with live games on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the NBA Finals will be broadcast live in India on SONY channels including SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 3 and SONY ESPN. All games on SONY TEN 3 will be available with Hindi commentary. Throughout the regular season, SONY featured more than 300 live NBA games across their channels.

The streaming deal marks the NBA’s continued focus on India, following the league’s December 2018 announcement of the NBA India Games 2019, which will mark the first games the NBA has played in India and the first games staged in the country by a North American sports league. The Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings will play on Friday, Oct. 4 and Saturday, Oct. 5 at the NSCI Dome in Mumbai.