Roundball Rock Return: NBCUniversal Grabs Back NBA Media Rights Beginning in 2025-26; Deal Also Includes 50 WNBA Broadcasts

Roundball Rock Return: NBCUniversal Grabs Back NBA Media Rights Beginning in 2025-26; Deal Also Includes 50 WNBA Broadcasts Details include 100 NBA national games, six Conference Finals series that will alternate every other year By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 - 4:51 pm

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For the first time in over decades, the National Basketball Association is returning to NBCUniversal in a new 11-year agreement. Beginning with the 2025-26 season, the outlets of NBC, Peacock, USA Network, Sky Sports, and Telemundo will present NBA and WNBA regular-season and playoff games.

We are excited to once again become long-term partners with the NBA and WNBA, as well as USA Basketball, says Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBCU Media Group. With a unique presentation plan across NBCUniversal platforms during the regular season and postseason, as well as the midseason tentpole All-Star Game and events of All-Star Saturday, we have a strong slate that will help supercharge our overall content strategy across the portfolio.

Highlights of the 11-year partnership include:

100 NBA national games each regular season across NBC and Peacock

More NBA Playoff games each season on average than any other NBA media partner

First-round playoff games presented by NBCUniversal will be exclusive in all markets (national and local)

Approximately 50 Peacock-exclusive national regular-season and postseason NBA games, including national Monday night games and doubleheaders

Six NBA Conference Finals series (every other year beginning with 2025-26 season)

NBA Tip-Off doubleheader each season

More than 50 WNBA regular-season and first-round playoff games each season across USA Network, Peacock, and NBC

Three WNBA Finals series (2026, '30, 34)

WNBA Semi-Finals games in seven seasons (2026, '28, '30, '31, '32, '34, '36)

NBA All-Star Game and star-studded competitions of All-Star Saturday Night each season on NBC and Peacock

Select NBA games and every NBA All-Star Game on Telemundo

USA Basketball men's and women's games

The return of the Roundball Rock theme music

The return of NBA basketball to the NBC Sports family comes with enormous benefits and excitement for our fans, says NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. And through its multiple platforms - especially NBC and Peacock - and its expansive resources, NBCUniversal promises to build on the deep tradition and history of the NBA on NBC.

With the new agreement, NBCUniversal will create distinctive programming windows:

NBC/Peacock NBA Sunday Nights

NBC Sports will continue its nearly two-decade tradition of premium Sunday night sports with a new Sunday Night Basketball NBA series at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, which will begin following the NFL Playoffs. NBC Sports will present a one-hour pregame show leading up to tip-off each Sunday night. NBC's Sunday Night Football, which debuted in 2006, has been primetime's #1 show for an unprecedented 13 consecutive years.

Peacock Monday Night NBA

Peacock will bolster its best-in-class sports lineup with approximately 50 exclusive regular-season and postseason NBA games, featuring national Monday regular-season NBA games each week and Monday night doubleheaders beginning later in the season, and exclusive playoff games.

In addition, NBCUniversal will present a pair of Monday NBA games on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January.

NBC/Peacock NBA Tuesday Nights

Each Tuesday, NBC Sports will present a unique NBA regular-season doubleheader - with start times at 8 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. PT. NBC will broadcast both games, with the 8 p.m. ET games on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones and the 8 p.m. PT game typically on NBC stations in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. Peacock will stream both games live.

NBC Sports will be the home of the first games each NBA season with an opening night Tuesday doubleheader on NBC and Peacock.

WNBA Regular-Season and Playoffs

Each year, NBCUniversal will showcase at least 50 WNBA games in the regular season and early postseason. NBC will broadcast five of those games, with USA Network and Peacock splitting the balance.

Deeper into the postseason, NBCUniversal will present three WNBA Finals series and games from seven WNBA Semi-Finals series over the 11 years.

Returning to NBCU at a time when momentum around the WNBA and women's basketball has never been higher presents numerous opportunities to engage with new fans and grow the league's core audience, says WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. We look forward to bringing WNBA games to NBCU's vast audiences on its networks and platforms, which will not only help elevate the league but also enhance the storytelling of the WNBA's incredible athletes.

Team USA Men's and Women's Basketball

With this agreement, NBCUniversal also acquires the rights to Team USA Men's and Women's games leading into the Olympics in 2028, '32, and '36, as well as women's pre-FIBA World Cup games ('26, '30, and '34) and men's pre-FIBA World Cup games ('27, '31 and '35), the majority of which will be exclusive to Peacock. In addition, NBC Sports will present the Nike Hoop Summit, featuring men's and women's international all-star games for players 19 years old and younger, which will be televised on USA Network each April, beginning in 2025.

Telemundo Deportes Coverage

Telemundo Deportes, the U.S. destination for the biggest global sporting events in Spanish-language, will present 10 games each season including the All-Star Game which will also stream on Peacock.

Sky Sports

Sky Sports, in all of its markets, will distribute all of NBCUniversal's NBA and WNBA games.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/07/24/roundball-rock-return-nbcuniver...
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