The NBA is a billion-dollar business. The new TV contract for eleven seasons has now been finalized. A renowned broadcaster from the past decades is leaving.
The North American professional basketball league NBA has concluded a billion-dollar deal for future TV broadcasting, replacing the previous rights holder TNT. The league announced that it had reached an agreement with partners Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon for the eleven seasons from 2025/26 to 2035/36. According to consistent media reports, the best basketball league in the world will receive a total of 76 billion dollars (around 70 billion euros) for this. The NBA did not provide any figures.
“Our new global media agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon will maximize the reach and accessibility of NBA games to fans in the United States and around the world,” NBA boss Adam Silver said in a statement.
NBA finals continue on ABC
Disney remains the main partner with the channels ABC and ESPN. The two channels show a large part of the playoffs and one of the two series of the Conference Finals in ten out of eleven years. The finals will remain exclusively on ABC until 2036 with commentator Mike Breen, who has already commentated on over 100 playoff finals. ABC has been the exclusive partner of the finals since 2003. The other highlights are shared between NBC and Amazon, which will also broadcast games in Germany.
Meanwhile, the broadcaster TNT Sports, which belongs to the previous partner Warner Bros. Discovery, is threatened with closure from the season after next. “We have matched Amazon’s offer, which we are contractually entitled to do,” said a statement from TNT Sports. The company announced that it intends to contest the decision. The broadcaster has been broadcasting the league for decades and employs prominent experts such as Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, who have recently shaped the show “Inside the NBA.”
Even more money in circulation in the future
The billion-dollar deal is likely to mean even more money circulating in the NBA in the future. A few weeks ago, German world champion Franz Wagner signed a five-year contract with the Orlando Magic, which guarantees him a sum equivalent to more than 200 million euros. Wagner will immediately become Germany’s highest-earning athlete.
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
