Why Did Facebook Live-Stream A Basketball Game In India?

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB)'s user base was able to live-stream Stephen Curry leading the Golden States Warriors to a come-from behind win over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday with one catch — they had to have been located in India.

According to Recode, international basketball fans are able to watch regular season games as part of the NBA's International League Pass subscription. However, Sunday's game was made available for free to all of Facebook's users in India as part of a Bollywood-themed promotion at the Kings' stadium.

Recode noted that it is not clear if there were any financial arrangements between Facebook and the NBA. Moreover, the NBA has partnerships with both Facebook and Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) to deliver content to the two social media platforms but has never live-streamed a full NBA game.

Among the two social media platforms, it appears that the NBA has a closer relationship with Twitter with two TV-style shows that are exclusive to the platform. Twitter also holds the advantage in live sports with the rights to broadcast the NFL's Thursday night match-up along with NBA and NHL games — not to mention PGA and tennis events.

Recode did, however, note that the NBA said the live-streaming of Sunday's game is indeed a one-off scenario and shouldn't be viewed as a sign of more live content to come.