NBA’s exclusive TV rights negotiating window with ESPN, Warner expected to pass without a deal

The
National
Basketball
Association’s
exclusive
media
rights
negotiating
window
with
current
partners


Disney
and


Warner
Bros.
Discovery
is
likely
to
expire
Monday
without
a
new
deal,
according
to
people
familiar
with
the
matter.

Beginning
next
week,
the
NBA
will
be
able
to
work
on
agreements
for
new
partners
to
show
packages
of
games.


Amazon,


Apple,
YouTube
TV,


Comcast‘s
NBCUniversal/Peacock
and


Netflix
have
all
had
preliminary
conversations
with
the
league
expressing
potential
interest,
CNBC

reported
last
year.
The
exclusive
negotiating
window
with
the
league’s
incumbent
partners
officially
ends
Monday.

While
no
agreement
is
expected
to
be
announced
by
the
deadline,
Disney
and
Warner
Bros.
Discovery
both
continue
to
work
on
terms
with
the
league,
an
NBA
spokesperson
confirmed.
The
NBA
would
like
to
bring
in
at
least
one
new
partner
to
serve
as
a
flagship
streamer,
CNBC
reported
last
year.
The
league
wants
a “robust”
streaming
partner
that
will
use
marketing
and
reach
to
make
the
games
a
priority
on
their
platform,
CNBC
reported.

“We
continue
to
have
productive
discussions
with
Disney
and
Warner
Bros.
Discovery
on
a
renewal
of
our
media
deals,”
a
league
spokesperson
said
in
a
statement
to
CNBC.

Spokespeople
for
Disney
and
Warner
Bros.
Discovery
declined
to
comment.

Warner
Bros.
Discovery’s
TBS
began
airing
NBA
games
in
1984,
and
TNT
has
shown
NBA
games
since
1988.
Disney’s
ESPN
and
ABC
have
broadcast
the
NBA
since
2002.
The
two
companies
have
both
publicly
expressed
a
desire
to
renew
with
the
NBA
and
have
joined
forces
with
Fox
to
launch
a

new
streaming
service
geared
to
sports
fans
that
don’t
already
pay
for
cable.
That
service
will
debut
in
the
fall,
the
companies
said
earlier
this
year.

The
NBA
is
looking
to
double
the
$24
billion
it
generated
from
its
previous
media
rights
deal
with
Disney
and
Warner
Bros.
Discovery
by
adding
new
partners
and
charging
more
for
rights,
CNBC
reported
last
year.
In
2014,
during
the
NBA’s
last
negotiation,
the
league

renewed
its
rights
with
Disney
and
Time
Warner
about
five
months
before
the
end
of
its
exclusive
negotiating
window.
The
NBA

also
doubled
the
price
for
its
rights
in
that
deal
from
its
previous
agreement.

This
time,
the
discussions
with
Disney
and
Warner
Bros.
Discovery
are
more
complicated
because
of
the
likely
addition
of
a
third
party.
Both
Disney
and
Warner
Bros.
Discovery
aren’t
eager
to
lose
the
rights
they
already
have.
Still,
the
league
is
looking
for
a
large
increase
in
fees,
and
neither
company
wants
to
carry
the
full
burden
of
paying
significantly
more
for
what
they
already
have,
according
to
people
familiar
with
the
negotiations.

That
allows
for
the
league
to
bring
in
another
party
—
or
possibly
even
two
more.
The
NBA
could
sell
its
new
in-season
tournament
package
of
games
to
a
separate
media
company
other
than
its
primary
new
streaming
partner,
one
of
the
people
said.

The
value
of
popular
live
sports
programming
has
increased
because
of
its
value
to
advertisers.
While
ad-free
subscription
streaming
services
have
increasingly
become
the
home
for
popular
scripted
programming,
sports
are
still
predominantly
watched
live,
forcing
viewers
to
see
commercials.

Last
year’s
NBA
playoffs
was
the
most
watched
in
11
years
across
TNT,
ABC,
ESPN
and
NBA
TV,

according
to
Nielsen.
The
2023-24
NBA
regular
season
averaged
1.09
million
viewers,
up
1%
from
last
year
and
the
highest
across-network
average
in
four
years,

according
to
SportsMediaWatch.

Still,
regular-season
viewership
plateaued
this
year
among
standard
cable
and
broadcast
networks.
Across
ABC,
ESPN
and
TNT,
the
average
televised
audience
of
1.56
million
was
down
1%
from
last
year’s
1.59
million
and
was
the
lowest
in
three
years.
TNT
averaged
1.4
million
viewers
for
its
65
regular-season
games,
equaling
the
year
prior,
according
to
a
Warner
Bros.
Discovery
spokesperson.

The
first
round
of
the

NBA
playoffs
will
start
Saturday.

Disclosure:
Comcast’s
NBCUniversal
is
the
parent
company
of
CNBC.

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