The first episode of “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” will now be available to more Australian viewers.
The entire drama series is currently available to subscribers of Foxtel’s subscription video on demand (SVOD) service Binge.
And now, ahead of the NBA Playoffs this weekend, Binge has also partnered up with Foxtel’s Kayo Sports to make the first episode available for free on Kayo Freebies.
Kayo Freebies exists to give viewers a taste of the sporting content available on its paid Kayo service and expand the reach and exposure of content normally only available to a paying audience.
The 10-episode “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” is produced by Adam McKay, who also boasts credits on “Succession” and “Step Brothers”, and is based on the book “Showtime: Magic, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s”.
It stars Adrien Brody as Pat Riley, Gabby Hoffmann as Claire Rothman, Jason Segel as Paul Westhead, Julianne Nicholson as Cranny McKinney, Quincy Issiah as Magic Johnson and Sally Field as Jessie Buss.
Australian Jason Clarke appears as Jerry West.
Alison Hurbert-Burns, executive director of Binge, said “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” has all the right ingredients.
“It’s packed with drama, based on one of the biggest and most universally loved sporting dynasties of all time and is created by and stars the biggest names in TV,” she said.
“Australians are a sports-loving nation, and with the growing interest around basketball and the NBA, we wanted to work with Kayo as the streaming home of sport to help take this show to fans around the country.
“And what better time to do it, as people go on Easter break and have more time to watch their favourite sports and shows? And if they love episode 1, they can watch the entire series on Binge.”
Cate Hefele, executive director of Kayo Sports, said she is thrilled to bring basketball fans the first episode of the global hit drama series for free.
“We introduced Kayo Freebies to provide greater access to sports and expand audiences for selected events and content. This special offer will allow basketball fans who might not subscribe to Binge the access to watch the first episode of this popular show,” she said.
She also noted basketball’s growing popularity locally.
“As the go-to destination for streaming the world’s best sports, we are seeing huge interest in basketball on Kayo, for both our domestic competitions and international leagues. NBA viewership has grown 31% this year, and we expect even further growth as the Playoffs tip off this weekend, with ESPN on Kayo the place to watch the NBA Playoffs plus every game live of the NBA Conference Finals and NBA Finals.”
