A mammoth new NBA rights package that will extend for the next 11 seasons has been finalized.
First reported by The Athletic, the deal will see NBC and Amazon Prime Video added as new partners, with ABC/ESPN set to remain the home of the NBA Finals.
A new NBA media deal had been in the rumor mill for weeks. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the NBA was close to signing a $76 billion media rights deal.
Even with the backdrop of the Mavericks versus Celtics NBA Finals, it seemed an unlikely scenario. Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of longtime NBA media partner TNT, is buried in debt. And ESPN has been losing money for years as consumers continue to cut the cord with cable providers.
Additionally, the deal would represent a more than three-fold increase over the NBA’s current media agreement. The current contract, announced in 2014, is a nine- year, $24 billion deal with ABC, ESPN, and TNT that began with the 2016-17 season.
But the rumors bore fruit and there is indeed a $76 billion deal on the table, which further demonstrates the consistent demand for sports media. Or as former Fox Sports chief David Hill recently stated, “Entertainment is a swamp, and sports is the only firm ground.”
“Entertainment is a swamp, and sports is the only firm ground,” - former Fox Sports chief David Hill https://t.co/QvtDddz8BH
— Web (@WebBarr) June 5, 2024
NBA’s media partners for the next 11 years
There is likely to be one brand new NBA media partner next year. Amazon Prime Video is projected to carry NBA games on Thursday nights, after the end of the NFL’s regular season. It will also offer Friday and Saturday games, and be the host network for the NBA’s in-season tournament.
Meanwhile, NBC hasn’t partnered with the NBA since 2002. But starting next year, it will offer the NBA’s Tuesday line-up and Sunday night games after the end of the NFL regular season. NBC’s streaming service Peacock will stream games on Mondays, with the total package expected to run NBC roughly $2.5 billion per year.
As before, Disney’s ABC and ESPN networks will offer the motherload of NBA coverage, including the NBA Finals and one of the conference final series. After the end of the NFL regular season, ABC will offer Saturday night and Sunday afternoon games. ESPN will continue to offer NBA programming on Wednesdays and some Friday and Sunday games.
Disney will pay $2.6 billion annually for its NBA package.
The pending media deal also includes WNBA coverage. No details have been provided, but it appears that all the NBA’s media partners may be airing WNBA games. The WNBA might also be able to add other media partners outside of this rights deal.
The pending deal, which will take effect starting in the 2025-26 season, must still be formally approved by the NBA board of governors, which meets next week in Las Vegas. Once approved, Warner Bros. will be given five days to match any of the proposed package deals. While it would be the end of an era – TNT has been an NBA media partner since 1984 – it's unclear at this stage if WB will pony up for a piece of the action.
TNT adds tennis and college football programming
TNT currently pays $1.4 billion per season for its NBA rights. The cheapest package going forward would be the $1.8 billion per season that Amazon is slated to pay. Instead of upping its NBA ante, however, WB appears to be embarking on a strategy based on more cost-efficient sports programming.
TNT recently signed a 10-year deal to feature Tennis’ French Open for $65 million per year. It also sub-licensed select college football playoff games from ESPN for the next five years, and has signed multi-year deals to cover the Big East and Mountain West college conference games.
Viewers faced with sports media’s new normal
The good news for fans is that there will be games available to watch – almost every night of the week. NBA fans, however, will need to stay on top of their programming guides.
To watch every televised and streamed game will necessitate switching between NBC, ABC, ESPN, Peacock and Prime Video. But given the skyrocketing costs of sports media rights, fragmentation is the new normal.
