The multi-billion dollar agreement announced Tuesday between WWE and Netflix is turning out to be a key factor in determining what the NBA’s new media rights deal could potentially look like.
Andrew Marchand on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast said the path seems clear for Amazon to get a streaming package as part of the next rights agreement.
“To me, my big takeaway, this points to Amazon even more so getting the NBA,” Andrew Marchand told guest co-host Austin Karp. “I think Amazon could’ve been involved in the WWE deal, and I think it points less that the NBA is gonna end up with Netflix. Because I just don’t think if they’re gonna make this big bet on WWE, I’m not sure they’re just gonna right away make a huge bet on the NBA. It’s a little counterintuitive.”
“This is Netflix, yes, getting into sports. But how far into sports are they going?” he asked.
Netflix has limited experience in producing live events, however, WWE handles its TV event production internally. But given the lack of a track record compared to Apple or Amazon, Karp said it makes sense for Netflix to capitalize on a product like WWE.
“I think they want to walk before they run, and I think they’re gonna want to really make sure that they do WWE properly before they get hot and heavy with some of the other sports rights that might be out there,” Karp said.
While churn rate has been a big topic of discussion particularly with regards to the streaming-exclusive NFL playoff broadcast two weeks ago, Netflix won’t have to worry about that with WWE fans. Andrew Marchand thinks Amazon wouldn’t have to worry about churn rate if the NBA was on Prime Video.
“The NBA is gonna be fine,” he said. “They’re gonna get the most money they’re probably gonna have to do four partners I think.”
“Netflix made their bet on WWE instead of NBA, and I think Amazon’s gonna make their bet on NBA instead of WWE,” Marchand added.
