NBA nearing $76 billion rights deal with NBC, ESPN, and Amazon, WSJ reports

According to the Wall Street Journal, the National Basketball Association is close to signing media rights agreements with Comcast-owned NBC, Disney's ESPN, and Amazon.com that would generate approximately $76 billion in media revenue over 11 years.

Rights to the widely watched professional basketball league are highly valued by media companies. Sports content continues to attract a consistent and loyal audience at a time when traditional TV networks are losing millions of subscribers due to cord-cutting.

According to the WSJ, under the agreement, NBC would pay the NBA an average of $2.5 billion per year and broadcast approximately 100 games per season, with roughly half airing exclusively on Comcast's Peacock streaming service.

According to the report, Amazon's package would cost $1.8 billion per year and would include regular-season and playoff games, as well as a share of the conference finals, which would be distributed in a rotating manner among media partners.

Disney's payments will average around $2.6 billion per year, up from $1.5 billion under the current agreement, and it will continue to air the NBA Finals, albeit with fewer games under the new agreement, according to the WSJ.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal excludes Warner Bros Discovery, whose Turner Sports network has broadcast NBA games for nearly four decades. Analysts have suggested that Warner Bros Discovery's heavy debt load may limit its ability to compete for NBA rights.

According to the Journal, Warner Bros Discovery can still compete with a rival package, and the NBA can create a new package for the company in the final stretch, but the media company's options are limited.

ESPN's deal, if finalised, will allow the company to air the games on its direct-to-consumer streaming service, which is set to launch in 2025, according to the WSJ. The agreement will also include rights to WNBA telecasts.

SportsLigue