The National Basketball Association (NBA) has been involved in media rights negotiations for national television broadcasts for the 2025-26 season and beyond with a resolution reportedly on the precipice. The league is reportedly finalizing contracts with The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal and Amazon that would approximately triple its existing rights fee, along with terminating the partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery. This could reportedly result in legal action from Warner Bros. Discovery about the breadth of its matching rights clause, which the league will reportedly take to the company to see if it can match NBCUniversal’s deal in “total value.” Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal was first to report the news of these contracts being finalized.
Within the report, sources indicated that The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC) would end up paying $2.8 billion per year for the “A” package of games, up by $200 million from previous reports. This package would reportedly include the NBA Finals, a conference final and weekly primetime games, along with rights to the WNBA and international rights likely to be shared. Disney has been a broadcast home for the NBA since the 2002-03 season after the network briefly televised games from 1982 to 1984.
The network has a new lead broadcast booth this season consisting of play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, analysts Doris Burke and JJ Redick, and sideline reporter Lisa Salters. The company averaged 1.7 million viewers throughout the 2023-24 regular season, which also included simulcasts and alternate broadcasts.
Comcast’s NBCUniversal was first reported to be bidding $2.5 billion to attain rights for the league for the first time since the 2001-02 season. The “B” package is now believed to be worth $2.6 billion per year and would reportedly include a conference final, conference semifinals and two prime time windows per week. Moreover, there would reportedly likely be a Basketball Night in America on Sunday nights after the conclusion of the NFL season.
Amazon will reportedly pay between $1.8 billion and $2 billion for rights to the NBA, marking the first time the league is inking a partnership with a streaming platform. The package would reportedly include the Emirates In-Season Tournament and the So-Fi Play-In Tournament, along with first-round playoff games, the WNBA and international rights.
Final changes are believed to be taking place in the coming days or the week with deals then having to be ratified by respective boards. Sources believe that Warner Bros. Discovery would need to pay more than $2.6 billion to match NBCUniversal’s bid; however, the specifics of the package are structured in a way that would make it “virtually impossible” to match.
The league is reportedly preparing its lawyers in the event of an inquisition or lawsuit, believing that a match does not come in monetary value, but rather with advertising revenue and broadcast windows among other things. Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly did not reach a framework for a deal during the 90-day exclusive negotiating window, whereas The Walt Disney Company reportedly did, although nothing was said to be finalized during that time.
