The NBA and various television network heads have finalized contracts that will make NBC and Amazon Prime Video new partners under deals that will last for 11 seasons and be worth approximately $76 billion. ESPN will be maintained as the home of the NBA Finals. TNT is not part of the agreement.
But while all of this is happening, TNT may challenge the agreements, per Andrew Marchand of The Athletic:
“While the NBA and its partner agreed to all the language, incumbent TNT Sports continues to threaten to match. The CEO of TNT Sports’ parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, has publicly stated he may attempt to use language in the current contract to remain involved with the NBA. If Zaslav goes through with that, he is expected to target Amazon’s package.”
Marchand also outlined what's next for the NBA and the network.
“The next step is for the league’s governors to approve the agreements with ESPN, NBC and Amazon, which is expected to be a formality.
The board of governors has meetings Tuesday in Las Vegas. At some point following the final step by the league’s governors, the NBA will send the finished contracts to TNT Sports.
At that point, the company will have five days to make its move. If it declines, then the NBA is expected to be an official announcement before the Olympics, which open on July 26th.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver apologized to TNT for the long negotiations earlier this year.
“I will say directly from me, directly to your question and the people who seem to be most impacted right now, the folks at Turner Sports, I apologize that this has been a prolonged process,” Silver said. “Because I know they’re committed to their jobs. I know people who work in this industry. It’s a large part of their identity and their family’s identity, and no one likes this uncertainty. I think it’s on the league office to bring these negotiations to a head and conclude them as quickly as we can.”
NBA TV deal has broadcasts nearly every weeknight
Under the new NBA TV deals with ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime, the regular season would reportedly feature national telecasts nearly every day of the week.
The NBA will take some inspiration from the NFL, as following the end of the football’s regular season, NBC will have the NBA succeed the highest-rated primetime show on television, “Sunday Night Football,” while, on Thursdays, Amazon will do the same after its TNF coverage concludes.
During the entire regular season, Amazon Prime is expected to have its other games streamed mostly on Friday nights and Saturdays.
NBC will have games throughout the full NBA season on Tuesdays. The network's streaming service, Peacock, is expected to have exclusive games on Mondays. Peacock will also stream all the NBC games.
During the NFL season, ESPN will have its games on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, with its Saturday night game being its special ABC window. After the NFL wraps, ESPN will have Friday night action, as well.
All three platforms will feature NBA playoff games, while Amazon Prime will reportedly be the home of the In-Season Tournament. Amazon and NBC will alternate showing conference finals while ESPN will have a conference final and the NBA Finals each season.
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