NBA action may be moving away from ESPN and TNT. CNBC’s Alex Sherman reported Thursday that a new broadcasting deal is unlikely to be agreed upon by the time the exclusive negotiating window between the NBA, Walt Disney Co., and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. expires on Monday, April 22nd. The companies have been in partnership for years. Warner’s relationship with the NBA stretches back to 1984, and Disney has broadcasted games on ESPN and ABC since 2002. Disney also hosted the 2020 NBA playoffs on the company’s property in Orlando during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Sherman, the league is looking to double the nine-year $24 billion deal the parties reached in 2014, which enabled significant growth for the league during the ensuing seasons. Aside from the seasons impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA revenue has increased every year since the deal. With the league breaking $10.5 billion during the 2022-2023 season.
NBA Broadcasting Rights: Exclusive Negotiating Period Ending Soon
Why the change?
With cable networks continuing to fade into obsolescence and linear television viewership in the U.S. below 50%, professional sports leagues are increasingly transitioning their live-broadcasted and pre-recorded media to streaming services.
Netflix, fresh off the $5 billion acquisition of WWE’s live event broadcasts and streaming library, Amazon, holders of the rights to NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” broadcasts, Google, the home of NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube since 2022, Apple, presenters of MLB’s “Friday Night Baseball” doubleheaders, and NBCUniversal, providers of Premier League matches since 2013, have all expressed interest in striking a deal with the NBA.
Unlike this year, the association’s last broadcasting deals with Disney and Warner Bros. were agreed to months prior to the exclusive bargaining window deadline. Setting the table for a payroll boom for NBA players following the 2016 collective bargaining agreement.
TV deals have major implications for league talents. At the time of the TV deal’s signing, the average NBA player made $4.46 million yearly. The highest player in the league was Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant earning $25 million per season. As of last season, the average player’s salary has more than doubled, now standing over $10 million, while Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry led the association with a $48 million annual salary.
What’s next?
Although the exclusive window seems destined to close without a deal materializing, conversations between the NBA, Disney, and Warner Bros. will continue after negotiations are opened to other companies. However, regardless of how it all shapes out, the NBA viewer experience will change.
LWOS Basketball will continue to report on developments regarding this story as they arrive.
