The NBA signed an 11-year media rights deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday. This came after the league turned down Warner Bros. Discovery’s offer of $1.8 billion per year to keep working with the league.
The league’s Board of Governors put the deals for media rights in place last week. They will bring in about $76 billion for the league over the next 11 years.
WBD
The WBD -5.37% had five days to match some of those deals and said it would do so. However, the NBA did not consider its offer to be a true match. That means that after almost 40 years, the 2024–25 season will be TNT’s last.
The league said Wednesday, “Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent offer did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer, so we have entered into a long-term agreement with Amazon.” “Our main goal during these talks has been to make sure that as many fans as possible can see and access our games.” This goal is helped by our new deal with Amazon, which adds to the broadcast, cable, and streaming packages that come with our new deals with Disney and NBCUniversal. All three partners have also promised to spend a lot of money to promote the league and make the fan experience better.
The Amazon
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Video streaming service Prime Video will show games on Friday nights, some Saturday afternoons, and Thursday nights, starting after “Thursday Night Football” on Prime Video. Prime Video will also take over WBD’s NBA League Pass package.
“The digital opportunities with Amazon are a perfect fit for the interest in the NBA around the world,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in a statement. “Prime Video’s huge number of subscribers will make it a lot easier for us to reach our fans in new and interesting ways.”
In addition, the package comes with at least one game on Black Friday and the NBA Cup semifinals, final, and most important game.
“We have worked hard over the past few years to bring the best sports to Prime Video and keep improving the viewing experience,” said Jay Marine, Prime Video’s global head of sports. The NFL, UEFA Champions League, NASCAR, NHL, WNBA, NWSL, Wimbledon, and more are already on our list of sports, and we’re excited to add the NBA to them. We’re happy to work with the NBA and can’t wait for 2025 to start.
The Disney
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The NBA Finals will still be shown on ESPN and ABC as part of the league’s top package. Since 2003, ABC has shown the finals.
During the regular season, ESPN and ABC will show together almost 100 games. ABC will show more than 20 games, mostly on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. ESPN, on the other hand, will show up to 60 games, mostly on Wednesday nights with some Friday games. Also, ABC and ESPN will show five games together on Christmas Day and will be the only networks in the country to show the last day of the regular season.
All but one year of the deal, ESPN and ABC will each show about 18 playoff games in the first two rounds. They will also each show one of the two conference finals series.
With NBC’s return, the NBA now has two broadcast network partners for the first time. From 1990 to 2002, NBC showed NBA games.
What Comcast
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There could be as many as 100 regular-season games on NBC, including one on Sunday night after the NFL season is over. During the regular season, it will show games on Tuesdays. On Monday nights, Peacock will be the only channel to stream a doubleheader.
The All-Star Game and All-Star Saturday Night will also be on NBC. This playoff season, up to 28 games will be shown on NBC and/or Peacock. At least half of those games will be shown on NBC.
In six of the eleven years, NBC and Amazon will each show one of the two conference finals series. In 2026–27, NBC will host the conference final, and the next season, Amazon will do the same.
After the news came out on Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery shares dropped 3%, while Amazon’s stock went up a little.
