NBA Rights Deals Officially Announced: Disney, NBCU, and Amazon Ink 11-Year Agreements; WBD Matching Offer Is Rejected

NBA Rights Deals Officially Announced: Disney, NBCU, and Amazon Ink 11-Year Agreements; WBD Matching Offer Is Rejected ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock, Prime Video will broadcast NBA games starting with 2025-26 season By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 - 5:36 pm

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After months of anticipation and drawn-out negotiations, the NBA has officially announced its new round of media-rights deals with Walt Disney Co., NBCUniversal (NBCU), and Amazon. Under terms of the 11-year deals, reportedly worth around $76 billion in total, ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock, and Prime Video will telecast NBA games from the 2025-26 season through the 2035-36 season.

The league also announced that it had rejected Warner Bros. Discovery's most recent proposal to match the terms of Amazon Prime Video's offer, creating a potential legal battle between the league and its longtime broadcast partner. WBD responded with a statement saying, We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action.

According to the league, the NBA App will serve as a universal access point by directing fans to every national game on Disney, NBCU, and Amazon platforms.

The new media deals will expand the reach of NBA telecasts, with all national games available on broadly distributed streaming services - Prime Video, Peacock, and ESPN's forthcoming direct-to-consumer service - and with dramatically increased exposure on broadcast television. Approximately 75 regular-season games will be on broadcast TV each season, up from the minimum of 15 games under the current agreement.

Our new global media agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon will maximize the reach and accessibility of NBA games for fans in the U.S. and around the world, says NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. These partners will distribute our content across a wide range of platforms and help transform the fan experience over the next decade.

Says ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, We look forward to building upon our incredible legacy of innovation and growth with our longstanding partners at the NBA. The NBA is a vibrant, ascendant league, and, through this premium collection of rights, including every NBA Finals on our platforms, we will continue to evolve together while successfully navigating the global digital transition and delivering the highest-quality coverage for fans.

Comcast Corp. President Mike Cavanagh says, We are proud to once again partner with the NBA and WNBA, two iconic brands and the home of the best basketball in the world. We look forward to presenting our best-in-class coverage of both leagues with our innovative programming and distribution plan across NBC and Peacock to entertain fans and help grow the game.

Says Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, We are honored that the NBA has entrusted Prime Video to deliver its one-of-a-kind action and excitement to viewers around the world. We look forward to continuing to innovate and evolve live sports coverage for our customers and are fully committed to building an incredible video experience for millions of NBA fans, starting in 2025.

Disney, NBCU, and Amazon also secured the right to distribute an unprecedented number of WNBA live game telecasts, with a significant increase in the reach of WNBA games across broadcast, cable, and streaming. CLICK HERE for full details regarding the WNBA's media agreements, which are reportedly worth about $200 million per season, $2.2 billion for the full term.

More Basketball in Bristol: Disney Nabs 80-Game Slate Disney (ABC/ESPN) will distribute a total of 80 NBA regular-season games per season, including more than 20 games on ABC (generally on Saturday nights with NBA Saturday Primetime and on Sunday afternoons with NBA Sunday Showcase) and up to 60 games on ESPN (generally on Wednesday nights and, on occasion, Friday nights). ABC/ESPN will continue to telecast all five NBA games on Christmas Day and provide exclusive national coverage of the final day of the regular season.

During the playoffs, ABC/ESPN will telecast approximately 18 games in the first two rounds each year and one of the two Conference Finals series in 10 of the 11 years of the agreement. ABC will remain the exclusive home of the NBA Finals, which it has broadcast since 2003.

All NBA games and events on ABC/ESPN will be available on ESPN's forthcoming direct-to-consumer service. ABC/ESPN will continue to telecast the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, NBA Draft, NBA Draft Lottery, and half of all NBA Summer League games. ABC/ESPN platforms will also continue to distribute a package of WNBA and NBA G League regular-season and postseason games.

Disney will distribute NBA games on ESPN-branded assets in several international markets - Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, the Netherlands - and via Disney+ in selected markets in Asia and Europe.

By the end of this renewal, the NBA's partnership with ABC/ESPN will reach 34 years.

Roundball Rock Return: NBC Gets 100-Game Slate, Alternating Conference Finals NBCU (NBC/Peacock) will distribute up to 100 NBA regular-season games per season - with more than half the games airing on NBC (on Sunday and Tuesday nights). NBCU will telecast the league's opening-night doubleheader on NBC each year and at least two games on MLK Day on NBC and/or Peacock each season.

Peacock will stream a doubleheader each Monday night of the season. Every Tuesday night, NBC will telecast two games across certain NBC-affiliate broadcast stations in different regions of the country. The first game will start at 8 p.m. ET and be available on NBC across affiliate stations in the Eastern and Central time zones. The second game will start at 8 p.m. PT and be availabl

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