$76 billion broadcast rights deal from NBA
The fight for NBA TV rights was always poised to be one of the biggest sports stories of 2024. While the basketball league increased the number of broadcast partners from two to three, it is stated that the agreements will bring 76 billion over 11 years. This package will be worth more than 2.5 times the league’s current deal.
The American Basketball League (NBA) started broadcasting rights negotiations with problems. Its talks with key business partners appeared shaky.
While TNT’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, was struggling with more than $40 billion in debt, ESPN’s parent company, Disney, was struggling with the decline in its shares. Both companies were reluctant to pay the full fee the league wanted.
As the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks prepare to face each other in the NBA Finals, the league is on its way to achieving great success.
Sources close to the matter told WSJ that the NBA said; He stated that he is close to agreements with NBC, ESPN and Amazon that will bring approximately $76 billion in media revenue over 11 years.
NBC is close to a deal with the league to pay an average of $2.5 billion a year, according to people familiar with the matter. Approximately 100 games will air per season, with about half of those games airing exclusively on the Peacock streaming service. Games will air on NBC on Tuesdays and Sundays when they do not conflict with NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” schedule.
Amazon’s $1.8 billion annual package will include regular season and playoff games, the new NBA in-season tournament and “play-in” games.
It is stated that Disney will keep the NBA package and continue to broadcast the NBA Finals, and the payments, which are 1.5 billion dollars according to the current agreement, will be an average of 2.6 billion dollars a year.
The agreements will come into force after the 2024-2025 season.
The agreement will also include broadcasting rights for the WNBA, whose popularity has increased with the increasing interest in rookie basketball player Caitlin Clark.