The exclusive media rights negotiating window between the NBA and current partners Disney and Turner is open until April 22, and sources recently told Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal they believe the parties entered those negotiations roughly three-quarters of the way toward an agreement based on their preliminary talks in recent months.
According to Friend, those sources also expect the in-season tournament – now known as the Emirates NBA Cup – to be part of the Disney and Turner packages rather than going to a streaming service such as Apple or Netflix.
Once the current exclusive negotiating window closes on April 22, Amazon and Apple are expected to talk to the NBA, with Amazon considered the favorite for the league’s national streaming rights and Apple viewed as likelier to pursue a smaller “singular” event, such as perhaps the play-in tournament, says Friend. The SBJ report also suggests that NBC is a candidate to regain some broadcast rights.
NBA team executives think the overall media rights deal will end up being worth about $60-72 billion, with negotiations potentially concluding in June or July, Friend reports. The league’s previous media rights deal was worth $24 billion over nine years.
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