The NBA is likely to end its exclusive negotiating relationship with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery without signing new media rights deals with the two companies, a person briefed on the negotiations confirmed. The Athletic on friday.
The period, which allows the league to speak with only two current rights holders before entering the general market, begins March 9 and ends Monday. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last week that conversations with these media companies are “ongoing and with very positive results.”
The league is expected to ink new rights deals with three to four partners in its next deal, after previously splitting its broadcasts between ESPN/ABC and TNT. The deal, which paid the league an average of $2.7 billion annually over nine years, expires after the 2024-25 season.
The NBA will likely add a streaming component to its next deal. Amazon and NBC are thought to be potential new partners.
CNBC first reported the news.
Silver, who has long been bullish about the prospects for the NBA's next contract, said last week that the market is “robust at this point.” The league has timed the international deal to give it access to global rights in the market at once, giving it the flexibility to seek new media rights partners.
It also outlines the WNBA's rights in negotiations. The WNBA's current media rights agreement ends after the 2025 season. Warner Bros. Discovery has expressed interest in acquiring WNBA rights in the United States, according to one of the people briefed on the negotiations.
The NBA is already taking a different approach in this round of negotiations. Disney and Turner Sports (now part of Warner Bros. Discovery) entered into a 2016 deal that took the NBA out of the market to pre-empt the league sending a third rights package to Fox. He immediately came forward. This time around, the NBA faces a much different media environment.
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery executives have spoken out in unison about a more conservative spending approach that could reduce the size of the package they are willing to pay, or at least There may be room for one more partner to come in. He said last month that he expected the NBA to add another media partner during an appearance on “The Domonique Foxworth Show.”
“We are currently in the midst of exclusive negotiations,” he said. “We have been meeting with incumbents for a number of months and they have expressed interest in renewing and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them. Given the evolving media landscape, , I think it's likely to come out of this window with at least one additional partner.”
The timing of the next media rights deal could also impact league expansion. Silver has said in the past that expansion is next on the NBA's agenda after the league's collective bargaining agreement (ratified in April 2023) and future media contracts.
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