The NBA continues to move closer to finalizing a media rights deal with ABC/ESPN, NBC, and Amazon, according to Joe Flint, Amol Sharma, and Isabella Simonetti of The Wall Street Journal (subscription required; hat tip to RealGM), who say the new agreement would be worth approximately $76 billion over 11 years. That would make it over three times more lucrative than the league’s previous deal with ABC/ESPN and TNT, which was worth $24 billion across 11 years.
As we previously detailed, the ESPN/ABC deal is being referred to as the “A” package of games and will be worth about $2.6 billion per year, while NBC will get the “B” package, worth approximately $2.5 billion annually, and Amazon’s “C” package will be worth $1.8 billion per year.
According to the Wall Street Journal’s report, TNT Sports could have retained that “B” package earlier in negotiations if it had been willing to pay $2.2 billion per year. However, Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly felt that price was too high for what it was getting, given that it would lose playoff and play-in tournament games to Amazon.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- A court complaint filed in New York this week alleges that former Raptors forward Jontay Porter owed “significant gambling debts” and agreed to settle them by exiting a January 26 game early, citing an injury, ensuring that the “under” prop bets on his statistical benchmarks for that contest would all hit. Jennifer Peltz of The Associated Press has many more details on the case, which has resulted in criminal charges for one conspirator so far. Federal prosecutors declined to comment on whether Porter – who was banned from the NBA for gambling violations – is under investigation.
- After serving as the head coach for the Austin Spurs – San Antonio’s G League affiliate – last season, Will Voigt is joining the BYU coaching staff as an assistant under new head coach Kevin Young, as reported by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). The Cougars have put out a press release confirming the hire.
- Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic explores the potential cause of the uptick in injuries leading up to and during this year’s postseason, getting feedback from team executives who cited multiple possible factors, including a compressed second-half schedule (due in part to the in-season tournament) and a midseason adjustment in how fouls were being called.
- Keith Smith of Spotrac ranks the top small forwards in the 2024 free agent class, starting with Paul George, DeMar DeRozan, and OG Anunoby.