Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
The NBA is nearing the end of its current television rights package and there has been a lot of discussion about what the next deal could look like. There were certainly a number of suitors for the NBA’s television rights, but things are starting to become a bit more clear.
According to Joe Flint, Amol Sharma and Isabella Simonetti of the Wall Street Journal, the NBA is closing in on a deal with ESPN, NBC and Amazon on a new TV rights deal that will be worth $76 billion over 11 years:
Now, with negotiations progressing as the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks prepare to face off in the NBA Finals, the league is on track to score big: It is closing in on deals with NBC, ESPN and Amazon that would bring in about $76 billion in media revenue over 11 years, people familiar with the discussions said.
This would be a massive deal for the NBA and one that will see a big change in how and where the NBA is viewed. The deal would see a lot of NBA games be available on streaming services Peacock and Amazon Prime as well as a soon-to-launch ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming service.
Unfortunately, this deal would also see the end of Turner Sports’ partnership with the league which would mean the extremely popular ‘Inside the NBA’ series would be no more. Though it was noted that Warner Bros. Discovery could still find their way in this new deal:
NBC is near an accord with the league to pay an average of $2.5 billion a year, people familiar with the deal talks said. It would show around 100 games per season, with about half airing exclusively on the Peacock streaming service, reflecting a major bet on the future of streaming. Games would air on NBC on Tuesdays and Sundays when there isn’t a conflict with NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”
Amazon’s $1.8 billion-a-year package would include regular-season and playoff games, the new NBA in-season tournament, and the “play-in” games in which teams compete for the final playoff spots. It also would have a share of the conference finals, which the media partners would split in a rotation, the people familiar with the terms said.
Disney would retain an NBA package and would continue to air the NBA Finals, with payments averaging about $2.6 billion a year, people familiar with the terms say, up from $1.5 billion under the current deal. Disney would get fewer games than under its current deal. ESPN’s deal will allow the company to air games on its direct-to-consumer streaming service, which is set to launch in 2025.
Warner, led by Chief Executive David Zaslav, still has a right to match a rival package, and the league could always carve out a new package for the company in the final stretch, but its options are limited.
Ultimately, these things are all about the money and ESPN, Amazon and NBC are willing to shell out a lot of it to have the NBA on their platforms. Both Amazon and NBC have had great success with the NFL and adding the NBA will only make their platforms that much more popular.
Austin Reaves chooses Mavericks over Celtics in 2024 NBA Finals
In this potential new TV rights deal, the airing of the NBA Finals wouldn’t change as they will continue to air on ESPN and ABC. The 2024 NBA Finals are set to begin on Thursday, featuring the Dallas Mavericks facing the Boston Celtics.
Of course, Los Angeles Lakers fans everywhere are rooting against the hated Celtics and Austin Reaves fed into that when discussing who he is picking.
“I gotta go Dallas just because I can’t choose Boston,” Reaves said.
The hatred between the two franchises will continue to live on and Reaves knows better than to choose anything Boston.
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