NBA analysts spent the early part of June flooding the internet with their mock drafts. Recently, Andrew Marchand did a mock of his own, gaming out how he thought the league’s upcoming TV rights negotiations would play out.
The New York Post writer was on The Ariel Helwani Basketball Show this week to discuss the process and what he is hearing so far.
Marchand is confident that Disney and WBD Sports will stay in business with the NBA. A streaming package has long been rumored to be part of the league’s wishlist in these negotiations. If Amazon is involved, Marchand believes that it will have its eyes on part of what currently belongs to TNT.
He suggested that while TNT will likely keep its Tuesday games, Amazon could specifically request a package of Thursday games.
“You won’t have Thursday night basketball until the football season ends and you’re not competing with it,” he said. “Then Amazon tries to own Thursday nights.”
The NFL moved its Thursday games to Prime Video last season. While viewership did drop from where it had been previously when Thursday Night Football was on linear television, the league has said it was happy with the move and with Amazon’s presentation.
As for the NBA, the league has worked with Amazon in the past, but that does not guarantee it will win the streaming package if there is only one to be had.
“There’s a relationship there, but Apple is serious,” Marchand said. “They’re serious about the NBA. So, I mean, that’s a big fight. And maybe they do something with both of them.”
He added that playoff games could be part of a new NBA streaming-exclusive package too. Currently, some games in the first round of the playoffs air on NBA TV. Those are the games Marchand predicts could end up behind a paywall.
