With ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery dealing with debts and other television rights deals, the NBA is hoping interest from tech companies can help propel a potential rights fee increase.
According to a report from Sahil Patel of The Information, both Amazon and Google have expressed interest in partnering with the league for its next television deal. Amazon was described as being interested in a deal but had “no intention of overpaying for a high-priced” package with the NBA.
The NBA has reportedly been looking for a deal that would triple its current television deals, putting it in the $50-$75 billion ballpark throughout an upcoming contract.
However, Patel’s report claims television executives have privately shared that the NBA should look to “temper its expectations of how much it can increase the fees, arguing that the economics of the deal prices they’re targeting simply don’t work.”
A streaming-only package is expected to be created for the NBA’s next television deal, which has been the interest of Amazon, YouTube, and potentially Apple. Others have posited that NBC’s Peacock could also be a potential home for the NBA’s streaming-only package. NBC is reported to be preparing an “aggressive bid” for the rights, which it lost in 2002.
Potential suitors will have plenty of time to plot bids for the NBA’s television rights. Its current contract doesn’t expire until after the 2024-2025 season.
