The NBA signed its 11-year media rights deal with Disney, NBC and Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday after saying it was not accepting Warner Bros. Discovery’s $1.8 billion per year offer to continue its longtime relationship with the league.
The media rights deals were approved by the league’s Board of Governors last week and will bring the league about $76 billion over those 11 years.
WBD had five days to match a part of those deals and said it was exercising its right to do so, but its offer was not considered a true match by the NBA. That means the 2024-25 season will be the last for TNT after a nearly four-decade run — though not long after the NBA signing was announced, WBD said it would take “appropriate action” and said it believes the NBA has to accept its offer.
Turner Sports strongly disagreed with the NBA’s move, saying it believes the league “grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights.”
Under the new deal, Amazon Prime Video will carry games on Friday nights, select Saturday afternoons and Thursday night doubleheaders that will begin after the conclusion of Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” schedule. Prime Video will also take over the NBA League Pass package from WBD.
The new package on Amazon also includes at least one game on Black Friday and the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game of the league’s in-season tournament, the NBA Cup.
ESPN and ABC will keep the league’s top package, which includes the NBA Finals. ABC has carried the finals since 2003.
ESPN/ABC will combine for nearly 100 games during the regular season. More than 20 games will air on ABC, mainly on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons, while ESPN will have up to 60 games, mostly on Wednesday nights with some Friday games. ABC and ESPN will also combine for five games on Christmas Day and have exclusive national coverage of the final day of the regular season.
During the playoffs, ESPN and ABC will have approximately 18 games in the first two rounds each year and one of the two conference finals series in all but one year of the agreement.
The return of NBC, which carried NBA games from 1990 through 2002, gives the NBA two broadcast network partners for the first time.
NBC will have up to 100 regular-season games, including on Sunday night once the NFL season has ended. It will air games on Tuesdays throughout the regular season, while a Monday night doubleheader would be exclusively streamed on Peacock.
NBC will also have the All-Star Game and All-Star Saturday Night. During the playoffs, NBC and/or Peacock will have up to 28 games the first two rounds, with at least half on NBC.
NBC and Amazon will also carry one of the two conference finals series in six of the 11 years on a rotating basis. NBC will have a conference final in 2026-27 followed by Amazon the next season.
