The NBA completed an 11-year, $76-billion media rights pact that will change the line-up of partners after next season, ending its decades-long relationship with cable network TNT and entering a new partnership with Amazon.
The league issued a statement Wednesday saying TNT parent Warner Bros. Discovery did not match the terms offered by Amazon, which will reportedly pay $1.8 billion annually for the rights to stream NBA games on Prime Video. NBCUniversal and the Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN will be the television outlets for the NBA.
The statement noted that the league sought a streaming partner to “maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for fans.” Streaming has become the platform of choice for young viewers who are abandoning or bypassing traditional pay TV services.
“Our new arrangement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing broadcast, cable and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements,” the league said. “All three partners have also committed to substantial services to promote the league and enhance the fan experience.”
The deal makes Amazon’s Prime Video a bigger powerhouse in the TV sports business thanks to its deep pockets. Amazon is already a player in the live sports streaming arena because of its Thursday Night Football package with the NFL.
The NBA more than doubled the rights fees of its current package, in another example of how live sports leagues have seen their value escalate in the media landscape disrupted by streaming video.
Live sports are must-have properties for traditional TV networks, which are no longer the first stop for scripted dramas and comedies. But tech companies getting into the video business also want sports to create greater scale for their streaming businesses. Leagues realize that streamers are the go-to resource for younger fans.
Prime Video is expected to carry weekly regular season games and the NBA Cup, a mid-season tournament launched last year. The streaming service will also get the NBA’s play-in tournament, in which the teams ranked between seventh and 10th over the regular season face off for the final two playoff seeds in their conferences.
Comcast will pay $2.5 billion for its package, which includes an exclusive weekly prime-time game and a piece of the conference finals. In addition, Comcast gets some games for its streaming platform Peacock, a boost for the service with 30 million subscribers, which is lagging behind such competitors as Netflix, Max and Paramount+.
The Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN remains the home of the NBA Finals, which will continue to air on broadcast network ABC. ESPN will also still carry regular season and playoff games. Disney will pay $2.8 billion per year, up from $1.4 billion in the current deal.
The NBA’s departure from TNT will be the most significant loss of a TV sports property since CBS was outbid by Fox for the NFL’s National Football Conference package in 1993.
The new NBA deal spells the end of “Inside the NBA,” TNT’s highly regarded studio show with Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson.
Turner still has the NHL, Major League Baseball, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and other events. But the NBA was a significant piece of its offering to pay TV customers.
Losing the NBA could have long-term ramifications for Warner Bros. Discovery’s carriage arrangements with cable and satellite operators, who pay fees to carry its channels. The company would have to negotiate its next round of deals without offering the NBA at a time when such talks are increasingly contentious. Pay TV operators are battling to keep costs down as their customer base continues to shrink every year.
