The NBA’s upcoming media rights deal has been a topic of much speculation, with the league’s contracts with ESPN and TNT set to expire after the 2024-25 season. Now, we have learned that Amazon Prime Video will be joining the package as a new partner. According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, Amazon’s deal with the NBA is expected to begin in the 2025-26 season and last at least 10 years.
The financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, but it is reported that ESPN paid $1.6 billion per year in its agreement, while TNT paid $1.2 billion per year. ESPN/ABC is also said to be working on a new deal that would see ABC getting exclusive rights to the NBA Finals for at least a decade. However, under the new package, ESPN may televise fewer games, potentially opening up broadcasts to another TV partner.
The question of who will broadcast those games remains uncertain, with NBC reportedly expressing interest in regaining NBA broadcast rights. NBC has been without NBA games since 2002 but is eager to provide content for its streaming platform, Peacock. Warner Bros. Discovery, the corporate owner of TNT, has the right to match any deal for NBA broadcasts and losing those telecasts could leave a major gap in the network’s programming. Additionally, Google has expressed interest in carrying NBA League Pass, which indicates that the league’s media landscape could see significant shifts in the coming years.
Overall, it seems that Amazon Prime Video will play a significant role in shaping the future of NBA media rights deals and could potentially open up new opportunities for other networks and streaming platforms to secure broadcasting rights for regular season and postseason games as well as global broadcast rights.
It’s worth noting that this news comes amidst increasing competition between streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ for content rights, including sports content like basketball games. As such, it will be interesting to see how these different companies negotiate their respective deals and what impact they will have on the future of basketball media rights.
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