According to The Wall Street Journal, the NBA is about to sign new media rights agreements with a few different businesses that will bring in $76 million for the league. After weeks of negotiations, commissioner Adam Silver and the league office finally seem to be nearing a conclusion on new media and broadcasting agreements that will take effect after the 2024–25 season.
The NBA will likely reach agreements with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon; TNT’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discover, will not be involved. This implies that the popular basketball show Inside the NBA, which starred Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal, will probably end.
11-year deal in the pipeline
The NBA is scheduled to finalize an 11-year media rights agreement with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon. At $2.6 billion annually, ESPN offers the largest package, which includes exclusive rights to the NBA Finals, a conference final, weekly primetime games, the WNBA, and probably shared international rights.
With this agreement, which is estimated to be worth $2.5 billion annually, the NBA returns to NBC for the first time since 2002. This package, which includes two primetime windows per week, conference semifinals, and a conference final, will essentially be the same as what TNT has had for years. For the rights to the WNBA, the Emirates In-Season Tournament, the SoFi Play-In Tournament, first-round playoff games, and international rights, Amazon will pay roughly $1.8 billion a year.
Damaged Relationship Between Warner Bros and NBA
The NBA’s relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery and its CEO, David Zaslav, has been severely damaged. When Zaslav declared that his company doesn’t “have to have the NBA” before the talks for a new media deal even started, it appeared as though this relationship was about to fall apart. Later, the executive said that the league was fantastic but that the damage had already been done.