NBA Makes Its Call: Deals Set With Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon as WBD Rejected

The NBA unveiled its new 11-year media rights agreements with Disney, NBC and Amazon on Wednesday after rejecting Warner Bros. Discovery’s proposal to match the tech giant’s $1.8 billion per year package.

The deals, reportedly worth a collective $76 billion, will take effect starting in the 2025-26 season and run through 2036. Approximately 75 regular-season games will be on broadcast TV each season, up from the minimum of 15 games under the current agreement.

The league argued that WBD’s proposal did not match the terms of Amazon’s offer, prompting it to enter into an agreement with the tech giant. It added that its primary objective during media rights negotiations was to “maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans.”

“Our new arrangement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements,” the league continued. “All three partners have also committed substantial resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience. We are grateful to Turner Sports for its award-winning coverage of the NBA and look forward to another season of the NBA on TNT.”

According to a letter sent to Warner, the NBA cited a provision that states an existing media partner can exercise its matching rights “only via the specific form of combined audio and video distribution (e.g. if the specific form of combined audio and video distribution is Internet distribution, a matching incumbent may not exercise such games rights via television distribution).”

In a statement, TNT Sports argued that the NBA has “grossly misinterpreted” its contractual rights and said it would take “appropriate action.”

“We have matched the Amazon offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it. In doing so, they are rejecting the many fans who continue to show their unwavering support for our best-in-class coverage, delivered through the full combined reach of WBD’s video-first distribution platforms — including TNT, home to our four-decade partnership with the league, and Max, our leading streaming service,” the statement read. “We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action. We look forward, however, to another great season of the NBA on TNT and Max including our iconic ‘Inside the NBA.’”

On Monday, Warner filed paperwork to exercise its matching rights for one of the packages, which an individual familiar with the decision-making told TheWrap was targeting Amazon’s deal.

The media giant said that it “acted in good faith” during both exclusive and non-exclusive negotiation periods to “present strong bids that were fair to both parties,” but that the league notified the company of its intention to accept the other offers, prompting it to file the matching rights paperwork in order to “allow fans to keep enjoying our unparalleled coverage, including the best live game productions in the industry and our iconic studio shows and talent, while building on our proven 40-year commitment for many more years.”

Under current terms that run through the 2024-25 season, ESPN pays the NBA about $1.4 billion annually while WBD pays about $1.2 billion per year. 

The NBA’s decision, which prompted Warner’s stock to fall 2.25% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, comes as cord-cutting has eroded linear television viewership as audiences make the jump to streaming.

Citigroup analyst Jason Bazinet has previously estimated that WBD’s loss of the NBA could cause the company’s ad revenue to plummet about $270 million a year, and that TNT could see a 45% decline in affiliate fees. Other analysts told TheWrap that it could weaken the company’s contribution to Venu Sports, a joint sports streaming venture with Fox and Disney.

Warner’s streaming business, which has 99.6 million subscribers globally, reported a profit of $103 million in 2023 and $86 million in the first quarter of 2024, though the segment’s results include traditional HBO cable subscriptions along with the Max and Discovery+ streaming services. 

While the company has lost the NBA, it still maintains rights to NASCAR, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and the March Madness college basketball tournament, and has acquired the U.S. rights to the French Open starting in 2025. WBD has also been in renewal negotiations with All Elite Wrestling, which AEW president Tony Khan has called “really productive.” 

Here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know about the new packages:

Amazon’s Package

Under the terms of Amazon’s package, Prime Video will have exclusive global coverage of 66 regular-season NBA games, including an opening week doubleheader, a new Black Friday NBA game and all games from the knockout rounds of the Emirates NBA Cup, including the in-season tournament’s semifinals and finals.

The company will also acquire the rights to exclusive coverage of every game of the postseason SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament, first and second-round playoff games and conference finals in six of the 11 years of the deal. Prime Video will distribute its package of games in the U.S. and internationally, with an expanded package of games in select territories, including Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The expanded package includes a minimum of 20 additional primetime regular-season games each year, a conference finals series each year and the NBA Finals in six of the 11 years.

“The digital opportunities with Amazon align perfectly with the global interest in the NBA,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “And Prime Video’s massive subscriber base will dramatically expand our ability to reach our fans in new and innovative ways.”

Prime Video will also exclusively stream 30 WNBA regular-season games each season worldwide, including the championship game of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup and WNBA postseason games, including one first-round series each year, plus seven semifinal series and three WNBA Finals. Prime Video will stream the package of WNBA games worldwide, excluding greater China, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and The Netherlands.

As part of the agreement, Prime Video Channels will also be the strategic partner and third-party global channels store destination for NBA League Pass and WNBA League Pass, the NBA and WNBA’s subscription services for streaming live and on-demand games, in the U.S. and internationally.

Disney’s Package

The ABC/ESPN rights extension, which is reportedly valued at $2.6 billion per year up from the current $1.5 billion, will include a total of 80 NBA regular-season games per season, including more than 20 games on ABC on Saturday nights with NBA Saturday Primetime and Sunday afternoons with NBA Sunday showcase, as well as up to 60 games on ESPN on Wednesday nights and, on occasion, Friday nights.

ABC and ESPN will continue to telecast all five NBA games on Christmas Day and provide exclusive national coverage of the final day of the regular season. During the playoffs, the networks will telecast approximately 18 games in the first two rounds each year and one of the two conference finals series in 10 of the 11 years of the agreement. 

The network will also remain the exclusive home of the NBA Finals, which it has broadcast since 2003. ABC and ESPN will also continue to telecast the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, NBA Draft, NBA Draft Lottery and half of all NBA Summer League games and distribute a package of WNBA and NBA G League regular-season and postseason games.

Disney will distribute NBA games on ESPN-branded assets in several international markets, including Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania and the Netherlands, and via Disney+ in select markets in Asia and Europe. All NBA games and events will be available on ESPN’s upcoming direct-to-consumer service, slated to launch in 2025.

NBCUniversal’s Package

Under the terms of NBCUniversal’s package, reportedly valued at $2.5 billion per year, NBC and Peacock will distribute up to 100 NBA regular-season games per season – with more than half of the games airing on NBC on Sunday and Tuesday nights.NBCU will telecast the league’s opening night doubleheader on NBC each year and at least two games on MLK Day on NBC and/or Peacock each season.

Peacock will stream a doubleheader each Monday night of the season.  Every Tuesday night, NBC will telecast two games across certain NBC affiliate broadcast stations in different regions of the country. The first game will start at 8 p.m. ET and be available on NBC across affiliate stations in the Eastern and Central time zones, while the second will start at 8 p.m. PT and be available on NBC affiliate stations across the Pacific and Mountain time zones.  All Tuesday games will be available on Peacock nationally and certain stations may choose to televise both games.

NBC will become the home of NBA All-Star, including Rising Stars, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, featuring AT&T Slam Dunk, Starry 3-Point Contest and Kia Skills Challenge, and the All-Star Game.  In the playoffs, NBC and/or Peacock will telecast approximately 28 games in the first two rounds of the playoffs, with at least half of those games airing on NBC. 

The network will also telecast one of the two conference finals series in six of the 11 years on a rotating basis with Amazon, beginning with the 2025-26 season, and distribute NBA games in several European markets through Sky Sports as well as in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.  Additionally, NBCU will distribute WNBA games and be the home of all USA Basketball Senior Men’s and Women’s National Team games.

Xfinity will become the Official TV Service of the NBA, WNBA and USA Basketball.  The partnership includes collaboration on marketing and storytelling opportunities, virtual signage during game telecasts and activations at marquee NBA, WNBA and USA Basketball events.