The NBA has finalized deals with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon Prime, reaching agreements to make the three broadcasters its media rights partners for the next decade-plus, reports Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. According to Marchand, the 11-year contracts – which will go into effect with the 2025/26 season – will be worth a total of approximately $76 billion.
These agreements had been anticipated for quite some time, but they still don’t entirely close the book on the NBA’s latest round of media rights negotiations.
The next step, Marchand explains, will be for the league’s Board of Governors to officially approve the deals with the three prospective TV partners. That’s viewed as a formality and is expected to happen when the board meets in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
Once the Board of Governors signs off on the contracts, they’ll be sent to TNT Sports, the NBA’s longtime media partner, which was unable to agree to terms with the league during this round of negotiations. TNT’s previous deal with the NBA reportedly includes some form of matching rights, so the broadcaster will have five days to decide whether it wants to attempt to exercise those rights.
If TNT passes on that opportunity, the NBA is expected to officially announce its new media rights deal prior to the start of the Olympics later this month, according to Marchand.
If TNT opts to match one of the offers – the expectation is that Amazon’s package would be the target, per Marchand – it could extend the process. The expectation is that there could be a legal battle over whether TNT’s matching rights would be valid, given the differences between what a cable channel like TNT and a streaming giant like Amazon could offer the league.
Marchand provides some additional details on the broadcast plans, assuming ESPN, NBC, and Amazon ultimately move forward as the NBA’s partners:
- ESPN would slightly reduce its total number of games, from about 100 to 80 per season. During the NFL season, ESPN would air games on Wednesday and Sundays, with ABC getting Saturday night games. ESPN would also air Friday games after the NFL season concludes.
- NBC would air Sunday night games after the NFL season ends, emulating its “Sunday Night Football” broadcasts. NBC is also expected to broadcast games on Tuesday throughout the season, with Monday games on Peacock, its streaming service.
- Amazon Prime Video is expected to air games on Thursday nights after the NFL season wraps up, similar to its “Thursday Night Football” broadcasts during the NFL season. Amazon will also likely broadcast games on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the season.
- Amazon will be the home of the NBA’s in-season tournament.
- All three broadcast partners will air playoff games. Amazon and NBC will each have a conference finals every other year, while ESPN will have one every year. ESPN/ABC will also get the NBA Finals each season.
ESPN is expected to pay about $2.6 billion per season for its rights, while NBC will pay $2.5 billion and Amazon will pay $1.8 billion, per Marchand.
The NBA’s previous media rights agreement with TNT and ESPN, which began in the 2016/17 season, was worth $24 billion over nine seasons. The new money that came in as a result of that deal generated a significant salary cap spike in 2016 (approximately 35%), but the NBA and NBPA have taken steps to ensure that won’t happen again this time around, with annual cap increases capped at 10%.
Man getting Barkley & Kenny Smith out the way is an amazing step forward. Now if they can get this Bally Sports/local tv situation straight & back on good terms with China they’ll be cooking with grease again.
Huh? Barkley was carrying basketball commentary
Exactly. Sankara again with another delusional take.
Foolish comment. Barkley and Smith are some of the best in the business. Also Bally Sports is awful.
Just in news
TNT is going to beat up Jeff Bezos and Amazon.
Most people couldn’t detect sarcasm if you hit them right over the head with it.
NBC better use “Roundball Rock” as the theme song.
B B B B B B B Basketball
Gimmie gimmie gimmie gimmie the ball because I’m gonna dunk it!
ESPN is airing games on Sunday DURING the NFL season?
Makes no sense, I guess there are people that will watch over NFL but not many. NFL Deebo X Mas from them and destroy in ratings. That is why TNT aired on Tuesday when. NFL is on.
NBA is an international sport…
NFL is like IMSA in comparison, a national sport… An after thought to soccer on the global stage…
Yes NBA is more international…doesn’t make it more entertaining. Super Bowl apparently had 60 million international viewers.
I know the NBA streams so their ratings are hard to compile, but based on tv they trail by a lot.
World Cup soccer final purportedly has 2 billion viewers. 33 times as many viewers as our Super Bowl. There must be an analogous comparison to my dad beating up your dad and and Ali-Frazier fight here somewhere.
10% annual increases are not going to work. If other revenues go up at the same pace then player pay will be 49% of revenue (what was agreed on collectively) it will be at year 9 that players get 49% of the new revenue. If other revenues go up, but at a slower pace, then it could be around year 7.
That means ownership will be keeping a much larger share for those first 7-9 years than the 51%.
Players protest and Lockout if that happens?
Yeah it’s looking likely unless there’s some kind of trade off given… As no one will be happy when they realise the owners are going to be getting so much of the pie…
We don’t want another Durant to Golden State type of situation, but also don’t want another lockout…
Maybe the NBA will throw all the excess into the All Star game pot to try and liven it up…
Share revenues doesn’t have to be player salaries. Is there a rule against splitting the remainder of the 49% amongst all the players equally? It doesn’t mean the owners will keep it. The league is doling out the money, the tv contracts don’t go directly to the owners.
Equally? Bernie, is that you? Equally is not fair to the talent, and the players union won’t agree to that. Neither is dolling it out for the All Stars. And not fair to the players now on delaying it to the future when they aren’t playing.
All contacts can be renegotiated if all parties agree to it. Maybe 29% increases for each of the first 3 years to smooth it out or something similar.
From Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ:
“Since individual salaries are negotiated before the season starts (in many cases years before), and BRI is not determined until the season concludes, there are mechanisms in place to adjust when salaries miss their target. If the players receive less than their guaranteed share of BRI, the league cuts a check to the players association for the difference, and this amount is distributed to the players.”
(The players also put a percentage of their salaries in escrow each season and if the players’ share ends up too high, money comes out of that account to be distributed to the team owners.)
Seems like the Tax Max number should be increasing then I would think. Let’s see how much the owners are willing to share?
Collective bargaining agreement entails a) that players will get 49% of the revenue, and b) that cap maximum can only increase by max 10% a year.
So, if the cap goes up by only 10% a year that means that ownership will be keeping well more than 51% for at least 6-7 years when the annual 10% increases catch up the pay.
So, will see how that is handled. Can’t imagine the players union going to go along with that.
Could go into multiple types of accounts. Retirement benefits, healthcare, even splits…there are other options other than the game checks for players to receive their share of the revenue. The cba doesn’t say that 49% of the revenue has to go to current player salaries
Everything is content…
League Pass is still gunna suck.
Eliminate ESPN
ESPN has been such a joke for so long… Without Woj they are nothing…
TNT won’t be out bidding them but it’s the only way to save us from 11 years of boring half time shows and a reason to turn off as soon as the game ends…
Just scripted talking heads without Shaq, Ernie,Kenny and Chuck. More propaganda jammed down your throat everyday.
Oh. You get SO much more from ESPN? Examples please
So the 3 broadcasters are fine to do things after the NFL season…
Everything during the NFL season is going to be on NBA TV?
What a confusing set up…
Currently TNT only did Tuesday and I think ESPN Wednesday and Friday.
It reads like NBC will do Tuesday from the start.
Peacock has Monday
Friday and Saturday from the start of the season is Amazon
ESPN will do Wednesday & Sunday throughout the season.
ABC will do Saturday but they should wait until after College Football. ABC constantly has college football and the playoffs which is now 12 teams for the first time. College football is shorter and done by January so I assume that gets priority over an 82 game league that does not turn up until like All Star time. Amazon has Saturday and they don’t have college football so it probably switches to ABC.
$76 billion?!?
Is Caitlin Clark coming to the league or something?
Will this new tv agreement affect the games aired on NBA TV?
Announcement for Seattle returning for the 25-26 season forthcoming?
Vegas?
Thank god for the folks at Spectrum SportsNet. Worthy Clap
I can say that I won’t go try to find NBA on Amazon on whatever night you just said (and I already forgot what night you said). Admittedly I’m more of a football fan but basketball is good too. Don’t make me try to figure out where to go to watch or ill just catch the scores later
New mega deals, partners, platforms… I’m confident that my preferred gratuitous HD streaming services will figure it out for me, as they’ve always done, and provide me with the optimal product.
I don’t know what kind of person would ever want to watch NBA on Amazon. Just an abuse of power.