The NBA and network executives have struck a deal that will keep ESPN as the broadcaster of the NBA Finals and bring in NBC and Amazon Prime Video as new partners in a deal worth $76 billion over 11 seasons, according to executives with direct knowledge of the deal.
The NBA and its partners have agreed to all the terms, but TNT Sports is threatening to continue to align itself. David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports, has said publicly that he may use the current contract language to continue his involvement with the NBA. If Zaslav does that, he is expected to target Amazon's package.
The next step is for the league's governors to approve the deals with ESPN, NBC and Amazon, but that's expected to be a mere formality.
The board of governors meets Tuesday in Las Vegas. At some point after final processing by the league's board of governors, the NBA is expected to send a completed contract to TNT Sports.
At that point, the company has five days to act. If it refuses, the NBA is expected to make a formal announcement before the Olympics begin on July 26.
The NBA and TNT Sports declined to comment.
The NBA has new television deals with ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime that will broadcast the regular season nationally nearly seven days a week, according to sources briefed on the deals.
The NBA is following the NFL's lead and airing the NBA after the football regular season ends as a replacement for Sunday Night Football, TV's highest-rated primetime show, while Amazon plans to do the same on Thursday after TNF finishes airing.
Amazon Prime Video will stream other games primarily on Friday nights and Saturdays during the regular season.
NBC will air every game of the NBA season on Tuesdays. NBC's streaming service, Peacock, will have an exclusive on Mondays. Peacock will simulcast every game on NBC.
ESPN plans to slightly reduce the number of regular-season games it shows from about 100 to around 80. During the NFL season, it will show games on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, with Saturday night games being a special slot on ABC. Later this year, ESPN will also show Friday night games after the NFL.
All three platforms will broadcast playoff games, Amazon Prime Video will broadcast tournaments during the season, Amazon and NBC will alternate broadcasting the conference finals, and ESPN will broadcast the conference finals and the NBA Finals each season.
While TNT Sports is just on the outside looking in for now, ESPN's deal with the NBA was no easy feat.
ESPN and NBA executives couldn't reach an agreement until the exclusivity deal expired in April, because ESPN wouldn't concede any part of the Finals. Soon after, the NBA agreed to broadcast the Finals exclusively on ABC/ESPN for $2.6 billion, slightly less than the $2.7 billion ESPN will pay the NFL. NBC is expected to pay $2.5 billion per season, and Amazon will pay $1.8 billion annually.
Under the current agreement, ESPN and TNT Sports will be paid a combined $2.6 billion over the nine-season deal.
If TNT Sports pulls away, this season will be the network's final game season after nearly four decades. The three networks are expected to court Charles Barkley, who has said he plans to retire, and may also bring the entire “Inside the NBA” staff to their platforms. TNT Sports may continue to produce programming in some form even without NBA games.
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At NBC, Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle are being mentioned as possible play-by-play announcers. Dwyane Wade covers the Olympics for NBC and could be the No. 1 game commentator. Amazon Prime Video has CBS/TNT/YES' Ian Eagle, who was the voice of the Final Four, at the top of its wish list for a play-by-play announcer and plans to hire two or three game commentators.
(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
