NBC Interested In Bringing Back the NBA When TV Rights Expire In 2025

[DaBadGuy7]

They say deadline was yesterday? Surprised no leaks yet

Barkley jumped the gun on that:

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Amazon to get In-Season and Play-in tournaments as part of NBA deal

The NBA’s two newly-created properties, the In-Season Tournament and Play-in Tournament, are reportedly headed to Amazon in the league’s new rights deal.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Amazon will own rights to the NBA In-Season Tournament (renamed the NBA Cup as of next season) and Play-in Tournament under its expected rights deal with the NBA, John Ourand of Puck reported Monday. The Amazon deal would also include a conference final every-other-year and the previously reported slate of regular season and playoff games. Newly reported Monday is that Amazon is seeking — and likely to get — a Saturday night window. One would assume that means the end of ABC’s occasional Saturday night game.

ESPN, per Ourand, will carry only Wednesday night regular season games as part of its renewal, dropping the Friday night slate that it has aired since the 2002-03 season.

By contrast, the “B” package of games currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery will only include a conference final every-other-year, alternating with Amazon. The rest of the current “B” inventory will remain in place, including NBA All-Star Weekend and a night of regular season games (Sundays on NBC, Tuesdays or Thursdays on TNT). NBC’s package also would include games on Peacock. Per Ourand, it is unlikely that the NBA will find a way to split the remaining inventory between WBD and NBC, as there is simply not enough to go around. As of Monday, there is “no agreement in sight” for the “B” package.

It is clear from the inventory for each company that the “B” package is closer to Amazon’s “C” package than to ESPN’s “A” package, an indication that NBC’s $2.5 billion bid likely raised the price tag for WBD from somewhere in the neighborhood of Amazon’s $1.8 billion/year.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

Clear NBC is willing to outbid WBD or even weaken them further in debt if they have to match the deal for a merger down the line.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Clear NBC is willing to outbid WBD or even weaken them further in debt if they have to match the deal for a merger down the line.

I mean I get why Comcast is willing to pay that much for the packcage is not better than the current one from WBD so it makes no sense for them to match the numbers.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

I mean I get why Comcast is willing to pay that much for the packcage is not better than the current one from WBD so it makes no sense for them to match the numbers.

Actually they might not have a choice but to match:



NBA is that important to WBD’s bottom line. For Comcast, it’s a want, not a need.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Actually they might not have a choice but to match:



NBA is that important to WBD’s bottom line. For Comcast, it’s a want, not a need.

Based on that, they should definitely give it up. The carriage fees & ad revenue lost is far less than the package cost, and that's before paying for production, talent, etc.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Actually they might not have a choice but to match:



NBA is that important to WBD’s bottom line. For Comcast, it’s a want, not a need.

So pretty much a lose/lose scenario for WBD

 

[DaBadGuy7]

 

[oknazevad]

It's called the First Amendment. Look it up.

Is anyone throwing you in jail? No? Then the first amendment is irrelevant. Grow up.

 

[Anisimovs AK]

It's called the First Amendment. Look it up.

Hahaha you cant be serious.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Could WBD match Amazon instead of Comcast?

Could Warner Bros. Discovery hold onto its NBA media rights by matching Amazon instead of Comcast, or is TNT destined to lose the NBA?

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Feels like this is the best move for WBD match the Amazon offer to get IST and Play In tournaments drop the All Star Weekend and get a conference final once every two seasons and since WBD has Max they can go global with local rights if that's what Amazon was also looking for

 

[DaBadGuy7]

 

[DaBadGuy7]

 

[DaBadGuy7]

@jkrdevil I feel this quote by Jon Lewis perfectly describes your overall thoughts on how ESPN covers any sport:

“ESPN is not a platform for the game, the game is a platform for ESPN. So long as that is the case, one has no choice but to turn back the clock in order to watch the game as it was meant to be shown.”

 

[jkrdevil]

@jkrdevil I feel this quote by Jon Lewis perfectly describes your overall thoughts on how ESPN covers any sport:

Read the article and Jon is 100% accurate. The network that does the best job of doing what Jon describes how NBC handled the NBA is CBS right now. Not coincidentally its sports division was run by Jim McKay’s (of Olympics and Wide World of Sports fame) son up until the Masters this year.

ESPN is like a new rich person who fell into their wealth and wants to prove it was the acumen all along. ESPN was the scrappy underdog who eventually fell into Mickey Mouse money and ended up becoming the dominant player in sports media. But people involved with ESPN want to say it’s climb to the top of the pyramid is because of the great work they do.

BTW, tonight’s Game 7 broadcast may be the worst Stanley Cup broadcast from a technical level since the OLN year.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Why does ESPN get to keep its package? They are trash. It doesn't even sound like they are outbidding everyone else.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

NBA closing in on formal bids as rights fees rise even higher

The NBA is close to reaching formal deals with Disney, Comcast and Amazon, with Warner Bros. Discovery's matching rights still in dispute.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reported Wednesday that the NBA is finalizing written agreements with Disney, Comcast and Amazon that could be worth as much as $7.4 billion/year. The agreements are expected to be formally agreed to within the week, at which point incumbent Warner Bros. Discovery will be presented with the opportunity to match Comcast’s bid, now said to be $2.6 billion/year instead of the previously reported $2.5. Per Friend, WBD president and CEO David Zazlav is believed to have “refused” to double the company’s current rights fee of $1.2 billion year during the company’s exclusive negotiating window earlier this year, expecting instead to pay $1.8-$2.1 billion.

Per Friend, ESPN is bidding $2.8 billion/year for its “A” package that includes the NBA Finals and a conference final each year, up from the $2.6 billion that had been previously reported. At $2.8 billion/year, ESPN would double its current annual payout of $1.4 billion. Amazon is expected to pay between $1.8 and $2.0 billion for its “C” package. As mentioned previously, the NBA is in line for as much as $7.4 billion/year, which over the course of an 11 year deal — the length that has been previously reported — would put the league at a whopping $81 billion in rights fees.

 

[NextBigThing]

NFL must be counting down the days until they can opt out of their tv deals. If the NBA is getting 7.4 billion, NFL must be worth a hell of a lot more.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

Why does ESPN get to keep its package? They are trash. It doesn't even sound like they are outbidding everyone else.

From the SBJ article, they didn’t want the A package to go up to bid:

NEW YORK -- The NBA is formalizing written contracts with Disney, NBC and Amazon this week, with sources calling it the final stage of media rights negotiations that may inevitably lead incumbent Warner Bros. Discovery to take legal action.

Industry sources believe ESPN will ultimately pay $2.8B annually -- up from a reported $2.6B -- for the league's "A" package, which includes the NBA Finals, a conference final, weekly primetime games, the WNBA and likely shared international rights. NBC's proposed "B" package is believed to be now worth $2.6B annually -- up from a reported $2.5B -- and would probably include a "Basketball Night in America" on Sunday nights following the NFL season, a total of two primetime windows a week, conference semifinals and a conference final. Amazon's deal is believed to be worth between $1.8B and $2B and would likely include the Emirates In-Season Tournament, the SoFi Play-In Tournament, first-round playoff games, the WNBA and international rights.

The final tweaks -- which sources said have been fluid and changing almost every other day -- are expected to be finalized in the coming days or week, at which time sources said all three networks will go to their respective boards to have the written bids ratified. At that point, sources said the league will take NBC's contract to WBD to see if WBD CEO David Zaslav is able to match it in "total value."

Considering WBD is $40B in debt and does not have the over-the-air infrastructure of NBC, sources believe WBD would need to pay more than $2.6B to match the deal and that NBC's overall bid could be structured in a way (for example, multiple weekly over-the-air games) that makes it virtually impossible for WBD to equal. Sources said Zaslav would then essentially have three choices: pass on the NBA, drastically overpay for the "B" package or take the NBA to court over the definition of a match.RELATED: Shared NBA package for NBC, TNT not in the cards.

In that event, sources said the league will contend a match is not dollar-for-dollar and that, specifically, a match would need to include the same ad revenue, broadcast windows, etc. -- something WBD apparently disagrees with. Sources said the NBA is prepping its lawyers for a possible inquisition or lawsuit.

It is also becoming clearer how WBD reached this perilous point in negotiations. During Disney's and WBD's exclusive negotiating window from mid-March to April 22, industry sources said Disney was firm about not letting the "A" package go on the open market. So it doubled its old rights fee of $1.4B annually to $2.8B.

But those same sources said Zaslav -- whose company paid $1.2B for NBA media rights a decade ago -- believed he would only have to pay between $1.8B and $2.1B to retain the "B" package this time around and refused to double to $2.4B. That is why the bidding ventured into the marketplace and why NBC leaped in. If WBD does, in fact, lose the NBA, 2024-25 will be its final season under the current deal.

 

[Chileiceman]

I'm a less than casual NBA fan, but as with the NHL, Turner does a much better on-air job with the product than ESPN. I'd say the gap is even bigger in the NHL, but still. It'd be sad day for NBA fans to lose that Turner connection.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

NFL must be counting down the days until they can opt out of their tv deals. If the NBA is getting 7.4 billion, NFL must be worth a hell of a lot more.

The NFL just keeps making new partners and new dates for games they pretty much got the calendar full to the max and they get over 11/12 billion for this next season if I remember well. With their inventory of games it's easy to go broadcast + streaming and then get ESPN to overpay. For every other league it's harder since they naturally have way more games.

I'm a less than casual NBA fan, but as with the NHL, Turner does a much better on-air job with the product than ESPN. I'd say the gap is even bigger in the NHL, but still. It'd be sad day for NBA fans to lose that Turner connection.

ESPN is just abysmal at any sport in their coverage probably only good spot is announcers but production overall focus for narratives and the whole talk they have 24/7 is terrible.

 

[jkrdevil]

Why does ESPN get to keep its package? They are trash. It doesn't even sound like they are outbidding everyone else.

Disney is still one of the biggest media companies and they haven’t had the turmoil in leadership that Turner/WBD has had in recent years

For all the talk about how TNT and the NBA have had a 40 year relationship, it really is only a 3 year relationship under current ownership. TNT’s leadership isn’t even the same from when it signed its NHL deal. Zaslav, who is most noted for the shift to cheap reality programming at Discovery, apparently low balled the NBA and spoke publicly about not needing it. So in comes NBC (lead by a former Turner exec.) who offers not only the money but the broadcast slots TNT can’t match.

Of course this looks like it is going to end up in litigation and be a mess. Who knows if the new deals will actually start in time

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Really hoping this is a huge flop for NBC/Comcast.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

The NFL just keeps making new partners and new dates for games they pretty much got the calendar full to the max and they get over 11/12 billion for this next season if I remember well. With their inventory of games it's easy to go broadcast + streaming and then get ESPN to overpay. For every other league it's harder since they naturally have way more games.


ESPN is just abysmal at any sport in their coverage probably only good spot is announcers but production overall focus for narratives and the whole talk they have 24/7 is terrible.

Their NBA coverage is the worst. MLB and NFL is not great but it’s watchable.