The current NBA rights deals with ESPN and TNT don’t expire until after next season, but we have been talking with sources throughout the industry to get their sense of how things might play out.
No matter how many media entities Adam Silver and the NBA decide to partner with, the league’s new rights deals should bring a sizable sum more than the $2.6 billion per year it got last time.Starting with the 2025-26 season, I think the NBA will go with four partners patterned after what we have seen from the latest NFL and MLB deals.The SportsClicker Projection 1.0 envelope, please. And the winners are … ESPN, Warner Brothers Discovery Sports, Amazon and NBC.It keeps The Finals.
Amazon takes over the Thursday night package from TNT with an exclusive doubleheader. It will start the week after Thursday Night Football. Amazon can tag it, “We own Thursdays!” .