NBA, WNBA extend partnerships with 2K video game
June 13 - The NBA and WNBA agreed in principle to terms for a multi-year global partnership expansion with the 2K video game, the leagues announced on Friday.
Also, 2K agreed in principle to terms to extend its relationships with the NBA G League and USA Basketball.
"NBA 2K has engaged a new generation of basketball fans in an increasingly digital world," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. "By expanding our partnership and creating NBA Take-Two Media, we look forward to building on the incredible success of the NBA 2K franchise."
Strauss Zelnick, chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive, said he was happy to continue the partnership with the NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).
"I would like to thank Adam Silver, (NBPA executive director) Andre Iguodala, and all our partners at the NBA and NBPA for their continued support and shared vision to empower NBA 2K to become the premier interactive entertainment basketball franchise," Zelnick said. "We are excited to unveil NBA Take-Two Media and look forward to seeing how it will create an entirely new and multi-faceted NBA experience for our communities."
That also applies to the WNBA, which saw its stars first appear in NBA 2K20.
"2K is where millions of young fans deepen their interest and fall further in love with the game of basketball. That's why this partnership is so important," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. "As the WNBA continues to reach new milestones on the court and across fandom, our presence in NBA 2K ensures that our league and athletes are visible, celebrated, and inspiring the next generation of WNBA fans around the world."
Terri Carmichael Jackson, the executive director of WNBPA, labeled Friday's news as a defining moment for women's basketball.
"Our players continue to raise the bar, and this renewed partnership with 2K ensures their impact is felt not just on the court, but across culture, gaming and the global growth of the sport," she said. "This expansion will elevate the entire league and the women who power it. It's also a recognition of the players' business value and their role in driving the future of the game."
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson and the legendary Vince Carter adorned the covers of the NBA 2K25 series of video games.
Tatum was on the cover of the standard edition, Wilson represented the game's WNBA version and Carter served as the face of the Hall of Fame edition.
--Field Level Media
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Blake Lively's Gossip Girl costar reveals why he felt like he was in 'pretty boy jail' after show ended
Zoolander once said, 'I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is.' Chace Crawford has been in search of what that is since he broke out of the 'pretty boy jail' he felt trapped in during and after Gossip Girl. He played Nate Archibald in the early 2000s TV drama and said the success of the show became both a career-defining moment and a creative obstacle. 'I felt like I was in the wilderness for years after Gossip Girl,' Crawford, 39, confessed on a recent episode of the Good Guys podcast. 'Because I felt, you know, as big of a show as it was, coming off of it as a young guy, it's like, "Oh, that's not cool anymore." 'And I'm in this box now. I'm in this jail of like the CW pretty boy, you know what I mean?' he adds, noting that people didn't think he had any 'range.' Crawford found success after Gossip Girl, but he shared that it was far from easy. 'I think people think… actors make a ton more money and have way more agency than we actually do,' he said. However, the truth, according to Crawford, was far more frustrating. Hollywood refused to see him as anything more than a pretty boy and romantic lead. 'I was probably harder on myself than I needed to be,' he reflected. Crawford was ready to dig his teeth into darker, grittier roles and that finally happened when he was cast in Amazon Prime's The Boys. The Boys is a superhero satire where Chace plays an insecure and self-absorbed anti-hero named The Deep. 'I just remember that audition hitting my inbox, and reading the synopsis, I was like, that sounds wild,' he recalled. 'And then reading this pilot, I was like, "Oh, this is f****ing great. This is so out there and original and weird."' He connected with the character instantly. 'I know that guy,' he said. 'You know, I know a hundred of those guys, basically. So, I instantly felt confident and excited about my take on the character.' And then he went in to read for it and saw 50 other names on the call sheet, which deflated his confidence as he felt the casting directors probably had already cast the role with an earlier audition. The showrunner (who is also the series creator) was at every audition and that's when Chace realized he could do it. He did one dark scene and one funnier one that got some laughs out of the showrunner. He booked the role and was over the moon about it. 'It was great. I was so happy to have another job that I was excited about and that the character was so different from anything that I had done before,' he added noting that he'd finally broken out of the 'pretty boy' box that Gossip Girl put him in. Lately, Crawford has been romancing Victoria's Secret model Kelsey Merritt, 28. In an appearance on Alex Cooper's Call My Daddy podcast, Chace revealed his dating dealbreakers. He said that his dating dealbreakers were 'punctuality' and 'bad tats.' He elaborated, 'Maybe a neck-tat is probably a deal breaker for me,' he laughed, while admitting, 'It's actually never happened!'
The Sun
34 minutes ago
- The Sun
Club World Cup 2025: What are the five new rules being introduced at the tournament?
THE Club World Cup has RETURNED in the summer of 2025 - with a new look tournament and new look rules. Sides from all over the world will travel to USA to compete in the competition this summer. 3 3 3 Uefa Champions League winners between 2021-2024 Chelsea, Real Madrid and Man City are among 12 teams representing Europe in the States. 20 other teams from CONMEBOL, Concacaf, CAF, AFC, MLS and OFC will make up the participating field - which has expanded from six to 32. Stars such as Lionel Messi, Cole Palmer, Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele will be on show in the new look tournament. SunSport can reveal what the new rules for the Club World Cup are. What are the new Club World Cup rules? The Club World Cup will see FIVE new rules this summer, those being: Referees will wear body cameras with the footage used on live match broadcasts. Footage from referee monitor reviews will be aired LIVE in stadiums. Advanced semi-automated offside technology will be in use. Balls will have a sensor inside. AI will be used to collect live match data as part of Fifa's partnership with Hawk-Eye. Substitutions will be requested on a digital tablet rather than via paper slips. How to watch the Club World Cup for FREE The WHOLE Club World Cup will be available on DAZN. Some matches (23 in total) are also available to watch on free-to-air Channel 5 in the UK. The tournament starts on Saturday, June 14 and concludes on Sunday, July 13. SunSport will live blog select matches, including all Chelsea and Man City games and the KO stages. Limited tickets still remain available for Club World Cup games. * Please note that TicketMaster and other secondary ticket sites may list tickets above face value.
Reuters
36 minutes ago
- Reuters
6-run explosion in the fifth inning pushes Reds over Tigers
June 14 - Tyler Stephenson blasted a grand slam, Brady Singer tossed six strong innings and the visiting Cincinnati Reds powered past the Detroit Tigers, 11-1, on Saturday afternoon. Matt McLain hit a three-run homer, while Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer also homered for the Reds. Singer (7-4) allowed one run and four hits while recording four strikeouts. Detroit starter Jack Flaherty (5-7) surrendered seven runs on five hits and five walks in 4 2/3 innings. Flaherty got into some trouble in the third by issuing walks to Jose Trevino and TJ Friedl. With two out, Gavin Lux hit a grounder that deflected off the first base bag. First baseman Colt Keith snagged the ball with his bare hand and flipped it to Flaherty for the out. Javier Baez led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and tried to score on Trey Sweeney's double but was thrown out at home. A pair of groundouts allowed Singer to escape that jam. De La Cruz, leading off the fourth, clobbered a Flaherty fastball over the right field wall for his 15th homer. The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the inning with Singer's aid. He gave up walks to Riley Greene and Keith before Wenceel Perez's RBI single got past diving first baseman Steer. The Reds regained the lead with a fifth-inning eruption. Jake Fraley led off with a single and moved up on Friedl's one-out walk. Lux's single brought home Fraley and De La Cruz drew a walk to load the bases. Stephenson then jumped on a hanging curveball and deposited it over the left field wall. One out later, Steer powered a Flaherty slider over the left-center field wall to make it 7-1. Kerry Carpenter was hit by a pitch and Keith had a two-out, ground-rule double in the sixth but Perez popped up, leaving them stranded. McLain clubbed his three-run shot off John Brebbia in the eighth. Tigers catcher Jake Rogers pitched the ninth. --Field Level Media
