The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced in July a new media deal, an 11-year agreement worth $76 billion beginning with the 2025-26 season, which set NBA records for both its length and total value and highlighted the league’s phenomenal growth over the last 25 years.
The NBA renewed its partnership with The Walt Disney Company and signed new agreements with NBCUniversal (NBCU) and Amazon under which ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Prime Video will telecast NBA games through to the end of the 2035-36 campaign.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The new media deal also ends the NBA’s long running relationship with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) which began in 1984. However, two days after the announcement, WBD formally filed a lawsuit against the NBA who rejected its matching bid for domestic media rights in the next cycle.
WBD claimed to have exercised the matching clause in its existing NBA contract to compete with the less expensive Amazon package, but the NBA confirmed it had rejected the last-minute bid as it did not match the terms of the retail giant’s proposal.
The main package will be held by the NBA’s long-standing partner Disney, who will pay the largest amount at around $2.6 billion per season, up from $1.4 billion in the current agreement. Disney will air a total of 80 NBA regular-season games per season, including 20 games on broadcast channel ABC and up to 60 games on pay-TV network ESPN.
During the playoffs, ABC/ESPN will show approximately 18 games in the first two rounds each year and one of the two Conference Finals series in 10 of the 11 years of the agreement. ABC will remain the exclusive home of the NBA Finals, which it has broadcast since 2003.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataESPN and ABC will, however, air fewer games under the new deal. Though, all NBA content on ABC/ESPN is set to be made available on ESPN’s forthcoming direct-to-consumer service, which will launch in autumn 2025.
Meanwhile, Comcast-owned NBCU, which will pay $2.5 billion per season, will have rights to show up to 100 regular-season games per season – with more than half of the games airing on the broadcast channel NBC and the remaining matches on the Peacock streaming platform. NBC also will become the new home of the NBA All-Star game.
In the playoffs, NBC and/or Peacock will air approximately 28 games in the first two rounds, with at least half of those games airing on NBC. NBC will also telecast one of the two Conference Finals series in six of the 11 years on a rotating basis with Amazon, beginning with the 2025-26 season.
Amazon’s $1.8 billion per season deal, meanwhile, includes rights to air 66 regular-season games on its Prime Video service each season, as well as the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final of the Emirates NBA Cup in-season tournament. Prime Video will also show all six NBA Play-In Tournament games, while its playoffs coverage will feature approximately one-third of the first and second rounds each year.
Additionally, Prime Video will share one of the two Conference Finals series in six of the 11 years with NBCU, beginning with the 2026-27 NBA season.
The agreements with Disney, NBCU and Amazon include a record number of national games on television, with approximately 75 regular-season games to be aired each season, up from the minimum of 15 games under the current agreement and will expand the reach of NBA telecasts.
Table 1: NBA rights cycle, broadcaster, and value
| CYCLE | BROADCASTER | YEARS | TOTAL VALUE($bn) | ANNUAL VALUE ($bn) | ANNUAL CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 to 2035-36 | Walt Disney NBCU Amazon | 11 | $76.0 | $6.9 | 165% |
| 2016-17 to 2024-25 | Walt Disney WBD | 9 | $23.4 | $2.6 | 180% |
| 2008-09 to 2015-16 | Walt Disney WBD | 8 | $7.44 | $0.930 | 21% |
| 2002-03 to 2007-08 | Walt Disney WBD | 6 | $4.6 | $0.766 | 16% |
| 1998-99 to 2001-02 | NBCU WBD | 4 | $2.64 | $0.660 | - |
The new media deal also underlines the league’s phenomenal growth in value over the last 25 years.
NBCU and WBD agreed to a $2.64 billion, four-year deal that started with the 1998-99 season, representing an annual value of $660 million. The next deal with Disney and WBD was worth a total of $4.6 billion over six seasons at an annual value of $766 million. The next agreement was a seven-year deal, costing those broadcasters $7.44 billion, or $930 million annually.
The current deal, which expires at the end of the 2024-25 season, was a record nine years, $23.4 billion agreement, at $2.6 billion annually.
The new deal, beginning with the 2025-26 season, is worth a record $6.9 million annually and represents an increase of 165% per season compared to the current contract. And compared to the deal that started a quarter-century ago, the annual value has climbed by a whopping 945%.
Related Company Profiles
The Walt Disney Co
Amazon.com Inc