In what will be a landmark move in sports media history, the NBA and Amazon Prime Video have the framework of a deal that will make the streaming service one of the main homes for the league’s games, executives with direct knowledge of the talks told The Athletic.
It is expected that Prime Video’s package will include significant regular season and postseason games, perhaps even some conference finals. The anticipation is that the final contract will be for at least a decade and begin the 2025-2026 season.
ESPN/ABC, as the website Puck reported Thursday, also has a framework of a deal with the expectations that an agreement will be completed. ESPN/ABC are expected to keep the Finals on its networks for the duration of its deals. Like Amazon, ESPN’s new contract is also expected to be at least a decade in length.
All of the details are not finalized yet, but all sides are under the expectations they will get done. The NBA, Amazon and ESPN all declined to comment.
The NBA prefers to have three companies involved in its new deals, but has not ruled out adding a fourth.
The NBA is finishing up nine-year deals that pay it $2.6 billion on average from ESPN and TNT Sports. Those contracts end after the 2024-2025 season.
The advancement in the Amazon and ESPN talks leaves incumbent Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns network TNT Sports, to face off with NBC, owned by Comcast, for the likely last package of games. Warner Bros. Discovery has the right to match deals, but NBC could try to structure an agreement in a way that makes it difficult.
While there is still work to be completed for the final arrangements, the current packages are going to be pruned slightly to create the third partner. In one arrangement, ESPN will cut down from around 100 games to around 80, according to executives briefed on the talks.
theathletic.com
It is expected that Prime Video’s package will include significant regular season and postseason games, perhaps even some conference finals. The anticipation is that the final contract will be for at least a decade and begin the 2025-2026 season.
ESPN/ABC, as the website Puck reported Thursday, also has a framework of a deal with the expectations that an agreement will be completed. ESPN/ABC are expected to keep the Finals on its networks for the duration of its deals. Like Amazon, ESPN’s new contract is also expected to be at least a decade in length.
All of the details are not finalized yet, but all sides are under the expectations they will get done. The NBA, Amazon and ESPN all declined to comment.
The NBA prefers to have three companies involved in its new deals, but has not ruled out adding a fourth.
The NBA is finishing up nine-year deals that pay it $2.6 billion on average from ESPN and TNT Sports. Those contracts end after the 2024-2025 season.
The advancement in the Amazon and ESPN talks leaves incumbent Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns network TNT Sports, to face off with NBC, owned by Comcast, for the likely last package of games. Warner Bros. Discovery has the right to match deals, but NBC could try to structure an agreement in a way that makes it difficult.
While there is still work to be completed for the final arrangements, the current packages are going to be pruned slightly to create the third partner. In one arrangement, ESPN will cut down from around 100 games to around 80, according to executives briefed on the talks.
Amazon Prime has framework deal for NBA broadcast rights
The NBA prefers to have three companies involved in its new deals, but has not ruled out adding a fourth.
theathletic.com
