Slingers and StarHub have entered into a partnership that will see the pay TV operator become the official broadcast partner of the Singapore Slingers for three years starting with the upcoming ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) season.
All of the Slingers’ matches in the ABL will be shown “live” on StarHub’s free sports channel, Hub Sports Arena (StarHub TV Channel 112/205). Non-StarHub TV customers can also watch the channel by connecting their TV sets to a cable point and turning to 76.25MHz.
In addition, the games will be accessible on smart devices through StarHub’s online streaming service, StarHub Go.
“This broadcast agreement with StarHub is poised to give the team a massive boost as our games can now reach a wider audience,” said Michael Johnson, general manager of the Singapore Slingers. “After coming so close to winning the league last season, we believe we are poised to go on another championship run, and our fans will be able to follow us more closely with this partnership.”
Lee Soo Hui, head of content and TV at StarHub, said that being a homegrown brand, they are proud to back the Slingers.
“The team is fueled by the support of the fans which is why we are making it as convenient as possible for them to follow the Slingers,” said Lee. “With this partnership, Slingers fans can now catch the team’s ABL matches ‘live’ on multiple platforms across TV, tablets and smartphones, so they can cheer the team on wherever they are.”
She said StarHub will also be looking to engage fans by running contests where viewers can stand to win premiums and tickets to Slingers matches.
Now into its seventh season, the six-team ABL welcomes three new teams to the league – Alab Pilipinas (Philippines), Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions (Hong Kong) and Kaohsiung Truth (Taiwan). They will be joined by the defending champions Westports Malaysia Dragons (Malaysia), Singapore Slingers (Singapore) and Saigon Heat (Vietnam).
Each of the six teams will face each other four times during the three-month elimination round. The top four squads with the best record will then enter the playoffs.
Meanwhile, StarHub TV in partnership with Astro Malaysia, is launching Go Shop (StarHub TV Channel 110), a 24-hour, Mandarin shopping channel that will also be made available on StarHub Go, StarHub’s video streaming service, by early next year.
To entice consumers, Go Shop will introduce special offers on TV through innovative bundling that cannot be found anywhere else. It aims to offer value by combining the main product with other product lines to complement the core offering.