Last week it was reported that the National Basketball Association (NBA) had reached an agreement for its media rights for $76 billion over 11 years. The new deal would make ESPN, ABC, Amazon Prime Video, NBC, and Peacock the broadcast and streaming homes of live NBA games.
During Tuesday night’s NBA Board of Governors meeting, a majority of the owners voted to ratify the new deal except for James Dolan (New York Knicks), according to sources from a new report from Sports Business Journal. The report states that current league partner Warner Bros. Discover, the parent company of TNT Sports, has officially decided to match Amazon’s portion of the package.
Reportedly, each partner’s annual bid is as follows: 2.6 billion for ESPN, NBCUniversal’s $2.5 billion, and Amazon’s $1.8 billion. WBD CEO David Zaslav has up to five days after the ratification to match if they want to keep broadcasting NBA games on their linear channels, including the four-decade run of NBA on TNT, and Max streaming platform.
Under Zaslav’s leadership, WBD has seen many cost-cutting measures with the layoffs of nearly 1,000 employees in various departments, including Max. Matching the Amazon deal would be ideal fiscally, according to sources in the SBJ report. However, WBD recently secured a deal to bring more college sports to Max and the linear networks, including Mountain West Conference college football games, and College Football Playoff games.
With Venu Sports, a streaming service that features live sports from ESPN, Fox, and WBD in the works, maintaining NBA games via TNT Sports could be crucial for future subscribers. The more games available on the platform would make it seem more valuable to many customers.
The NBA may not want WBD to match because of the difference in subscriber count, with Max having approximately 100 million and Amazon having nearly 200 million worldwide, according to sources from the SBJ report. This could lead to a lawsuit, a cash settlement, or the rumored fourth NBA media package that could bring more local games to national TV.
In a report from The Athletic, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver hints that once the media deals and new collective bargaining agreement are finalized, the league will look into expansion:
“We’re not quite done with our media deals yet, but once we are, we will turn to consideration around expansion,” Silver said. “I will say it’s a bit more complicated than is suggested sometimes. Because just think of the immediate deals for example, once they are completed when you bring in new partners you’re diluting (the current teams).”
As for the one “No” vote during the NBA’s BOG meeting in Las Vegas, Knicks owner James Dolan was reportedly concerned that the addition of more national games would hinder the revenue from the team’s local TV partners such as MSG Networks. Dolan isn’t the only NBA personality who is worried about the league’s media future with Hall of Famer Charles Barkley telling SBJ the following:
“We should never put money above the regular fan. Everybody can’t afford streaming. There’s nothing wrong with streaming, but when you start just going to the highest bidder and you’re not on regular television, I think you do a disservice to the fan.”
Barkley’s point isn’t out of bounds, for example, NFL fans could spend at least $621 to watch live games this season. As sports continue to transition into the digital age and include streaming platforms in their rights deals, fans are starting to pay for games that may have been free OTA years ago. However, many fans who have cut the cord are saving compared to what their cable bills were.
A projected NBA broadcast schedule beginning in the 2025-26 season if WBD doesn’t reach a deal, would be Mondays on Peacock, Tuesdays on NBC/Peacock, Wednesdays on ESPN, Thursdays on Amazon Prime Video, Fridays on ESPN/Amazon Prime Video, Saturdays on ESPN/Amazon, and Sunday on NBC/ESPN.
The shot clock is ticking and we’ve reached the fourth quarter for Zaslav and WBD to match a deal but fans will know within the next few days if the NBA stays on TNT after the upcoming season.