Netflix considering adding NBA's in-season tournament

The NBA's In-Season Tournament was designed to add more importance to its early regular season games, but it may have also served its purpose when it comes to the larger economic picture for the league.

On Monday evening, Sports Business Journal reported that Netflix, the world's most prominent streaming company, is considering taking a shot at the league's new showcase. 

Part of the reason why the tournament is up for grabs is that the current rights packages expire after the 2024-25 season, and the tournament on its own could draw additional television and/or streaming revenues with the right media partner. Allowing Netflix or any other streaming service to secure rights would be no different than what the NFL has done for "Thursday Night Football" or, on a smaller scale, what its sister league the WNBA has done with the Commissioner's Cup. Both are on Prime Video, and although TNF pulled games away from the NFL's broadcasting partners years ago, the Commissioner's Cup Final is a separate game from the rest of the WNBA's regular season schedule.

Netflix has obviously been pulled into the live sports discussion, perhaps against its will, as stockholders are always pushing these companies to find the next revenue stream even if it may run counter to what they do best. What it does best are not live events, as the "Love is Blind" live reunion show debacle this spring has shown, but scripted and documentary-style programs. Its "Drive to Survive" series for Formula 1 has become the chic concept for media companies and sports leagues looking to attract younger, if not wider, audiences for the games themselves. However, Netflix is considering boxing, as discussions with Premier Boxing Champions and influencer/boxer Jake Paul were reported earlier in November.

As for the NBA, Netflix is certainly among the potential partners that can help achieve the league's goal of reaping close to $7 billion in their next media deals. The traditional media companies are going through their own challenges due to cord-cutting and programming holes from the concurrent writers and actors strikes in Hollywood, but at least Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast will make plays to keep or bring back the NBA to their networks.