The NBA announced a nine-year extension on their media rights contract on Monday, extending their working relationship with Disney (ESPN, ABC) and Turner (TNT) through the 2024-25 season.
The nine-year extension comes two years ahead of the expiration of the current deal and is worth a reported $24 billion.
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NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Washington Wizards owner and chairman of the NBA media committee Ted Leonsis, ESPN president John Skipper, and Turner Broadcasting president David Levy announced the extension at a press conference in New York on Monday.
Speaking first, Silver pointed out that the extension means the NBA will have been in a relationship with Turner for 41 years, and with ESPN for 23 years. It was because of the strength of their working relationship that the NBA chose to negotiate the extension a full two years ahead of the current deal's expiration. The financials of the deal weren't disclosed publicly, but Silver trumpeted the value of live sports in a DVR world.
Here are some highlights of the new deal, which begins in 2016-17, courtesy releases from Turner and ESPN:
- TNT will air an end-of-season NBA awards show.
- TNT will be the home of NBA opening night, Thursday night doubleheaders, and All-Star weekend events.
- TNT's regular season coverage will expand to 64 games.
- ESPN and ABC will air 100 regular season games, up from 90.
- ESPN will broadcast live Summer League and D-League action.
- ESPN will have 750 additional hours of NBA content.
- ESPN's deal with the WNBA has also been extended through 2025.
- ESPN will continue to be home to all things NBA Draft.
- ABC will remain the home of the NBA Finals.
- There will be flexible scheduling for nationally televised games.
Silver and Skipper also discussed a vaguely-defined "over the top" offering, which the league will have an equity interest in. The details on that new offering, which is expected to allow fans to view nationally televised games without a TV or satellite provider, will be announced "at a future date."
Skipper released the following statement:
The NBA has never been more popular and it continues to grow under Adam’s leadership. By acquiring significantly more NBA content for both existing and yet-to-be created platforms, we will establish a vibrant, year-round NBA presence for fans. For ESPN, this agreement continues our fruitful, longstanding relationship with the NBA and bolsters what is already the sports industry’s most impressive and impactful collection of media rights.
Levy provided the following statement:
This is a significant deal for our company and we are pleased to continue our long-standing partnership with the NBA, its fans, owners and players. The agreement locks in some of the most valuable, original, premium live sports programming that we’ll continue to monetize across TNT and all other platforms within our extensive portfolio and will help further grow our businesses into the next decade.
Silver closed his portion of the press conference by saying "Our game has never been better," while Leonsis said "There has never been a better time to be a basketball fan ... there has never been a better time to be an owner."
No doubt.
You can read more about the league's extended deal, and its potential ramifications for the salary cap, among other things, in the storyline below.
