Where to stream NBA (and other basketball) in Australia

Despite a wealth of beloved Australian sports—soccer, NRL and AFL to name a few—there’s a range of North American sports growing in popularity with viewers Down Under. For a cricket sub-in, there’s baseball. If you like rugby union, you might like NFL. And fans of field hockey will likely enjoy ice hockey.

And then there’s basketball. Or, more specifically, the immensely popular National Basketball Association (NBA) gargantuan American league. There are a few ways to watch the NBA and other basketball leagues in Australia, including some of the best sports streaming services.

You want a subscription to either Foxtel Now or Kayo Sports to access the NBA. Here’s a handy list of all of the basketball content you can find there:

• NBA (men’s and women’s)
• EuroLeague
• WNBA
• NBL One
• NBL (men’s and women’s)
• NCAA College Basketball (men’s and women’s)
• FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup
• Basketball Internationals (men’s and women’s)

That’s a lot of basketball choices. For Foxtel Now, you need to first pick a base subscription for $29 a month then add a $25 monthly fee for the Sport pack ($54 all up). Alternatively, Kayo Sport costs $25 each month for Kayo One (one screen), $30 for Kayo Basic (two streams) or $35 for Kayo Premium (three simultaneous streams).

Note that only select NBA matches are shown on Kayo Sports and Foxtel Now. This includes selected games from the regular season, play-offs and Conference semi-finals. Every game from NBA Conference Finals and the NBA Finals is streamed via ESPN on Foxtel Now Sport and Kayo Sports.

If you want all the matches, you should consider signing up for an NBA League Pass. Note that the prices may change based on location and how far along the season is. Prices start at US$14.99 per month and can stretch up to US$129.99 per year. Just make sure you buy the international version of the NBA League Pass to avoid coverage blackouts.

With the right virtual private network (VPN) software, you can access typically geoblocked streaming services from Australia. For instance, services like Hulu have access to NBA live matches (and other sports) via the Live add-on, which includes ESPN. The VPNs below offer speedy Hulu streaming from Australia:

• Windscribe VPN
• ExpressVPN
• PureVPN
• NordVPN
• Atlas VPN
• Proton VPN
• IPVanish VPN
• PrivadoVPN
• Private Internet Access VPN
• VPN Unlimited
• Surfshark VPN
• TunnelBear VPN

Unlike NBA, if you want to watch every National Basketball League (NBL) game in Australia, tune in to ESPN on Kayo Sports or Foxtel Now. Alternatively, watch the Sunday arvo games for free on Kayo Freebies or 10Play. For the 2023 season, the NBL Finals game was also streamed for free on Kayo Freebies. There are also select live matches and on-demand content available on the official NBL YouTube channel.

The easiest place to catch EuroLeague basketball matches is Kayo Sports or Foxtel Now. Alternatively, sign up for a free Courtside 1891 account for select free highlights and other on-demand content. For US$42 per year, you can buy an annual pass to Courtside 1891 to stream international basketball matches, including EuroLeague.

Your best bet for Basketball World Cup content is via ESPN. That means paying for a subscription to Foxtel Now Sport or Kayo Sports in Australia. Alternatively, use a VPN to access a US service like Hulu (with the Live add-on) to stream matches live.

Interested to see how the streaming services above stack up against the competition? Take a look at the table below for a comparison of your streaming options in Australia.