After several months, the NBA has finally confirmed an 11-year media rights deal with ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon, ending its long-term relationship with TNT Sports.
However, after initially not coming to an agreement with the league during its exclusivity window, Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) – parent company of TNT and Warner Sports – is considering to sue the league after its matching bid to Amazon’s package was rejected in favour of Prime Video.
The new NBA broadcast deal will commence at the start of the 2025-26 season, expiring at the end of the 2035-36 season. As previously outlined, ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon Prime Video will gain a share of regular season games collectively between them.
The three incoming broadcast partners will also share a host of play-off games, with ESPN gaining rights for a Conference Finals and the NBA Finals, whilst NBC and Prime Video will share games for the other Conference Finals.
As part of Amazon’s package, Prime Video will gain exclusive rights to the newly formed NBA In-Season Tournament – now named the Emirates NBA Cup – with its inaugural edition coming last season, won by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Furthermore, British broadcaster Sky Sports confirmed its inclusion in the deal by obtaining UK rights for the NBA over the next decade.
It has been reported that ESPN will pay $2.6bn per year, NBC $2.5bn per year, and Amazon $1.8bn annually.
NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, said: “Our new global media agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon will maximise the reach and accessibility of NBA games for fans in the United States and around the world.
“These partners will distribute our content across a wide range of platforms and help transform the fan experience over the next decade.”
Controversy however, the new media rights deal means that TNT Sports will no longer be a broadcast partner for the first time since 1988, meaning that the popular ‘Inside The NBA’ show will end after the 2024/25 season.
Inside The NBA analyst and Basketball Hall of Famer, Charles Barkley, criticised WBD’s decision to not sign a deal during the exclusivity window after it expired in April, making way for NBC and Amazon to secure deals with the league.
WBD eventually decided to match Amazon’s bid for its package after the NBA Board of Governors initially agreed on the eventual media rights deal. However, the league remained firm and opted for Amazon ahead of TNT Sports as its first dedicated streaming partner.
There have been widespread reports across the US basketball circuit that WBD intends to sue the NBA after disagreeing with the league’s response as to why it rejected the deal.
The main reason as to why the NBA opted for Amazon over TNT Sports was due to the commitment by Amazon to show all of its eligible games on Prime Video, whereas TNT wanted to place games on both cable TV and the WBD streaming service MAX.
The NBA also believes that Prime Video’s reach is greater and offered to pay in full for its three years of the deal, whilst, according to The Athletic, WBD would provide the first three years in credit due to debt concerns.
Despite the league outlining its reasoning to WBD, the media company intends to sue the league over disagreeing with its assessment.
It is unknown as of yet what an ongoing legal dispute means for the new broadcast deal, but The Athletic revealed that a legal battle is not what either party wants.
