Ron Chenoy/USA TODAY NETWORK
NEW YORK — The NBA formalized written agreements with Disney, NBC and Amazon this week, officials said, in the final stages of media rights negotiations, with incumbent Warner Bros. It is said that taking such measures may be unavoidable.
Industry insiders believe ESPN will ultimately pay $2.8 billion per year (up from a reported $2.6 billion) for the league's “A” package, which would include the NBA Finals, conference finals, weekly primetime games, the WNBA, and possibly shared international rights. NBC's proposed “B” package is now thought to be worth $2.6 billion per year, up from a reported $2.5 billion, and would likely include two primetime slots total, including “Basketball Night in America” on Sunday nights after the NFL season one week, the conference semifinals and the conference finals. Amazon's deal is thought to be worth $1.8 billion to $2 billion and would likely include the Emirates In-Season Tournament, the SoFi Play-In Tournament, the first round of the playoffs, the WNBA, and international rights.
The final arrangements, which are in flux and changing almost every other day, are expected to be finalized in the coming days or weeks, at which point all three networks will submit written statements to their respective boards, according to people familiar with the matter. The company plans to make a bid. Ratified. At that point, officials said the league will bring the NBC deal to WBD to see if WBD's CEO will take over. david zaslav You can match it in “total value”.
Given that WBD is $400 million in debt and doesn't have NBC's over-the-air infrastructure, sources believe WBD would have to pay more than $2.6 billion to match the deal, and NBC's overall bid could be structured in such a way that it would be virtually impossible for WBD to match (e.g., multiple over-the-air games per week). In that case, Zaslav essentially has three options: forgo the NBA, pay significantly more for a “B” package, or take the NBA to court over the definition of the game, according to the people.
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In that case, the NBA would argue that the games are not priced dollar for dollar, and specifically, the games would have to include the same advertising revenue, airtime, etc., sources said. WBD is clearly against this. Sources say the NBA is preparing attorneys for an investigation and possible lawsuits.
It's also becoming clear how WBD got to this dangerous point in the negotiations. During the exclusive negotiation period between Disney and WBD, which lasted from mid-March until April 22, industry insiders say Disney was adamant about not taking the “A” package to the open market, so it doubled its annual rights fee from $1.4 billion to $2.8 billion.
But the same sources say Zaslav (whose company paid him $1.2 billion in NBA media rights fees a decade ago) will need to pay between $1.8 billion and $2.1 billion to keep the “B” package this time around. He said he refused to double the contract because he believed he had to pay only dollars. 2.4 billion dollars. That's why bids went into the market and NBC got involved. If WBD does indeed lose the NBA, 2024-25 would be his last season under his current contract.
