BREAKING: NBA Poised to Revolutionize Sports Media with Amazon Prime Video Deal
Carlo De Marchis
Advisor. 35+ years in sports & media tech. "A guy with a scarf" Public speaker. C-suite, strategy, product, innovation, OTT, digital, B2B/D2C marketing, AI/ML.
🏀 NBA Poised to Revolutionize Sports Media with Amazon Prime Video Deal
In a groundbreaking move that is set to reshape the landscape of sports media, the NBA and Amazon Prime Video are on the verge of finalizing a deal that will make the streaming service a primary home for league games. This landmark agreement, as reported by executives with direct knowledge of the talks to The Athletic, is expected to span at least a decade and commence with the 2025-2026 season.
Under the proposed framework, Prime Video's package is anticipated to include a significant number of regular season and postseason games, potentially even some conference finals. This move underscores the NBA's commitment to defining itself for the next frontier of viewing, with streaming at the forefront.
Alongside Amazon, ESPN/ABC is also expected to secure a deal with the NBA, with the expectation that the network will retain the rights to the Finals for the duration of its contract. Like Amazon's agreement, ESPN's new contract is projected to span at least a decade.
As the NBA's current nine-year deals with ESPN and TNT Sports, valued at an average of $2.6 billion, are set to conclude after the 2024-2025 season, the league is actively seeking to diversify its media partnerships. While the NBA prefers to have three companies involved in its new deals, it has not ruled out the possibility of adding a fourth.
The advancements in talks with Amazon and ESPN have left incumbent Warner Bros. Discovery, whose network TNT Sports has been a long-standing partner of the NBA since 1984, to compete with Comcast-owned NBC for the likely last package of games. Although Warner Bros. Discovery has the right to match deals, NBC could attempt to structure an agreement in a way that makes it challenging for its rival.
To accommodate the inclusion of a third partner, the current packages are expected to be slightly pruned. In one arrangement, ESPN is likely to reduce its coverage from around 100 games to approximately 80, as indicated by executives briefed on the talks.
Amazon's regular-season games could potentially be slotted on Thursday nights, a time period where it already has a strong presence with its NFL coverage from September to early January. In recent years, the NBA has strategically moved its games off Thursday during this period to avoid direct competition with the NFL. Additionally, Amazon is expected to secure significant playoff inventory and has expressed interest in acquiring global rights, aligning with the NBA's negotiating strategy of synchronizing its domestic and international deals to end following the 2024-2025 season.
As the NBA, Amazon, and ESPN are all under the impression that they will successfully complete deals, the pressure now falls on TNT Sports and NBC, with its streaming service Peacock, to vie for the remaining package.
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8moThis is for US only. Do not forget that NBA is watched for 70% outside the US!
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8moIt’s been coming…
Will be curious how TNT NBC plays out and will that be the end of Sir Charles reign as Pundit 👑 or Will the band get back together again on a new platform similar to the musical chairs with NFL shows.
Advisor. 35+ years in sports & media tech. "A guy with a scarf" Public speaker. C-suite, strategy, product, innovation, OTT, digital, B2B/D2C marketing, AI/ML.
8moIn the current TV deal, both ESPN and TNT pay the league around $2.6 billion each year. ESPN/ABC will reportedly still participate in the broadcast, only this time, with fewer games. Both networks will likely work to sign a new deal to continue broadcasting games, especially the NBA Finals. Reports also say that there are still a few games left that could belong to either TNT or NBC as they try to work on a new deal. For TNT, they've broadcast games since 1984, while NBC lost their rights in 2002. The current deal that the league has with ESPN/ABC and Turner Sports is around $23 billion. According to reports, the new TV deal is expected to be around $75 billion. Sources say that Amazon will likely pay most of the demand in the new deal.