US national network NBC is readying an offer of $2.5 billion annually to secure domestic National Basketball Association (NBA) action during the next media rights cycle, it has been reported.
This would involve the ousting of TNT Sports – owned by Warner Bros. Discovery – as a domestic NBA rights partner, according to the Wall Street Journal, with TNT currently paying $1.2 billion per year through 2024-25. A $2.5 billion tie-up with NBC would represent the annual rights fee more than doubling.
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The exclusive negotiating window between incumbent TNT Sports and the NBA expired on April 22, and now Comcast-owned NBC is reportedly set to step into the breach.
The NBA is currently shown domestically by TNT and heavyweight sports broadcaster ESPN, in deals unveiled in 2014 which both run through the 2024-25 season. These are worth a combined $24 billion in total.
Now, the WSJ has reported that while ESPN (owned by Disney) is set to retain its top-tier domestic NBA rights by paying $2.6 billion each campaign, TNT could be supplanted in its position by NBC.
NBC last covered NBA action domestically in 2002, while the TNT Sports network has been airing NBA games since 1984. WBD also has the right to match any deal and retain NBA rights.
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By GlobalDataIt has been reported that its bid for the NBA involves NBC covering both regular-season and playoff games, as well as games shown specifically by the Peacock streaming service. In addition, it has been suggested that that submission would see NBC showing two primetime games every week throughout the season.
An NBA deal would add another top-tier sports property to NBC’s already crowded rights stable, which includes the Olympic Games, domestic NFL American football action, English soccer's Premier League, golf’s US Open, and cycling’s Tour de France.
TNT Sports, meanwhile, also holds rights to top-tier properties such as the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, and collegiate men’s basketball. It will, in addition, show Nascar stock car racing from next year in a seven-year deal.
Earlier this week, meanwhile, it was reported that a multi-year rights deal between the NBA and streaming giant Amazon is close to being finalized.
The two parties have agreed to the framework of a deal that will last for a decade beginning with 2025-26, according to The Athletic.
The league has always been keen to carve out a new streaming package and bring a major player in the digital market on board for the next cycle of domestic rights.
At present, the NBA is the only one of the three major US sports leagues not to have a streaming partner.
MLB has a league-wide deal with Apple TV and the NFL signed a deal with Amazon several years ago to broadcast its Thursday Night Football games.
The NHL will join the party next season, meanwhile, as Amazon signed an exclusive two-year streaming deal with the league and its digital broadcast rights partner Rogers Communications last week in Canada.
CNBC has previously reported that the NBA is looking to double its current rights fees by adding new partners and charging more for the rights.
It is understood that Disney and WBD are extremely reluctant to carry the burden of paying significantly more for what they already have, however.
