Netflix won. The streaming wars are not over, but the service could be well on its way to doing the same thing to it’s VOD competitors that it did to Blockbuster more than a decade ago. As the NBA thinks about how to launch a new package of streaming games, it is something for the league to keep in mind.
The NBA is the last of the four major American professional leagues to roll out a package of streaming exclusives. It’s linear TV contracts mean MAX and ESPN Plus are likely in the running. Apple, Peacock and Amazon have expressed interest as well. None of them offer the league the distribution that Netflix does.
It’s something that should be considered, right? Why not prioritize putting your product in front of as many people as possible?
How can the NBA get on Netflix if the service is serious about its aversion to live sports? The company has expressed interest in the In-Season Tournament, but that is more about creating another one of the sports-themed docu-series that have brought Netflix eyeballs and critical acclaim.
Hollywood has had a model that allows distributors to benefit from marquee content without shouldering all the risk. That, according to Netflix bosses, is what keeps them on the sidelines in rights negotiations. In fact, this model is one Netflix is already intimately familiar with, we just haven’t seen it come to the sports world yet.
Would the NBA be willing to think outside the box and award its streaming rights to a company that would then license the games to Netflix? The company recently reached a deal to license Lost from Disney. This summer, it turned Suits, an already-cancelled show licensed from NBCUniversal, into a hit. Both companies have their own streaming services, but know that neither service can give their show the audience Netflix can. What if the NBA did the same thing?
Apple and Amazon have proven that networks and streamers can’t always “just add sports”. Apple’s Major League Baseball coverage was panned for everything from broadcast crews to graphics in its first two seasons. Thursday Night Football has sound problems and is routinely accused of being “boring” in its presentation.
If Netflix thinks it does its best work when it controls every aspect of the story on the screen, then take lessons from those two. Eliminate yourself from the process. Let someone else build the vehicle and just enjoy the spoils of being the destination.
Licensing live game broadcasts has not been done on this level before, so my proposal is far from perfect. How would ad revenue be split? Can the licensee generate profit on the deal? Can the NBA really grow subscriptions to a service that is already ubiquitous in a lot of homes?
I get it. This is not fully fleshed out, but in order to innovate, people and businesses have to start by asking “why not?”. It’s how we got the In-Season Tournament, which broadcasters and the league say accomplished what it was supposed to in year one.
By now, most of us expected that the NBA’s new TV deals would be sewn up. Between disruptions in the broadcasting space, Hollywood strikes, Commissioner Adam Silver’s flirtation with Disney and other factors, there have been plenty of distractions.
Silver and his advisors have not been sitting still this whole time. They have taken a lot of meetings about both linear and streaming rights. They are trying to figure out the right deal for the NBA in the new media landscape. With the industry evolving more rapidly than ever, it’s going to be important for Silver to remember that he has only heard every possibility that has been thought of, not every one that exists.
The same can be said for Netflix. The company has said it is not interested in live sports rights because it isn’t enthusiastic about the way the sports broadcasting business runs right now. Surely co-CEOs Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos have seen every comment from financial analysts saying that there would be a greater return on investment for the company by investing in sports than in movies. So do the company’s investors. If the information is out there that this would be a very profitable space for Netflix, Hastings and Sarandos would be harming their shareholders by insisting that sports is a sandbox in which Netflix simply won’t play.
Professional basketball has a dedicated and desirable audience. Netflix can get the benefit of live sports. The NBA can get the benefit of the biggest streamer on the planet. Another outside company can benefit too. They all just have to be willing to try something new in order to make it a reality.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
