Basketball, Nba one step closer to new maxi TV rights deal: $76bn over 11 years
The agreement ensures that players' salaries will continue to increase for the foreseeable future and will certainly change the way some spectators will access the game in the years to come.
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2' min read
2' min read
The National Basketball Association, North America's professional basketball league better known as the NBA, has agreed to a new maxi-contract with TV and media operators to the tune of a monstrous $76 billion spread over 11 years. The deal guarantees that player salaries will continue to rise for the foreseeable future and will certainly change the way some viewers will access the game in the years to come.
According to Associated Press reports, the next step will be the approval of the contracts by the basketball league's board of governors. The agreement sets an NBA record for both its duration and total value and will go into effect for the 2025-26 season. Games will continue to be broadcast on ESPN and ABC, and now some will also go on NBC and Amazon Prime. TNT Sports, which has been part of the league's television family since the 1980s, has five days to try to tie up one of the deals.
The division of matches on the calendar between broadcasters and TV operators
.ABC, which has been broadcasting the NBA Finals since 2003, will continue to broadcast the games on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons when the NFL regular season ends. ESPN and ABC will continue to have the league's biggest package, which includes the NBA Finals and one of the conference finals series.
Significant amounts for all parties involved
.The exclusivity of the finals includes a significant price increase. Walt Disney Company, owner of ESPN and ABC, will pay $2.6 billion per year under the new contract compared to $1.4 billion under the current deal. The return of NBC, which broadcast NBA games from 1990 to 2002, gives the league two network partners for the first time.
The NBC - whose deal is expected to be $2.5 billion per season - will show the games on Sunday nights once the NFL season is over. Games will air on Tuesdays throughout the regular season, while a package of Monday night games will be streamed exclusively on Peacock. Prime Video will broadcast its games on Thursday nights after it finishes distributing NFL games. The other nights could be Friday and Saturday. NBC and Prime Video will alternate on who will broadcast one of the conference finals. Prime Video's rights would average $1.8 billion per year.
