NBA media rights talks “in the fourth quarter.” What we know

The NBA heads into Memorial Day weekend without having publicly announced any new media rights deals. However, the league appears to be close to finalizing several deals that will likely pay it at least double the $2.7 billion the NBA currently receives annually from ESPN and TNT.

There has been much talk that Disney's ESPN will renew its deal with the NBA, while new broadcast partners NBC and Amazon are set to enter the competition, leaving incumbent broadcaster TNT out of the picture. Here's what we know:

ESPN: Disney, which owns the sports network, is believed to be on track to retain its “A” package of NBA rights, which includes exclusive broadcast of the NBA Finals. ESPN's rights fee is expected to double from $1.4 billion per year to $2.8 billion annually over the course of the 10-year deal. NBA games are expected to continue to be a fixture on ESPN and ABC throughout the season and playoffs.

ABC: The network that owned NBA rights during the height of the Michael Jordan Bulls era appears to be heading to court again. With a bid worth $2.5 billion annually, the Comcast-owned network would take over the NBA's “B” package, which TNT has in its current contract, which expires after the 2024-25 season. NBC can offer free, over-the-air broadcasts that TNT, a cable channel, cannot.

Amazon: The streamer is reportedly offering $1.8 billion per season to broadcast some NBA regular season and playoff games on Prime Video. Amazon could end up getting key assets like the newly rebranded Emirates NBA Cup tournament in the season. and international broadcasting rights.

TNT: The home of Insights into the NBA may no longer have a league media package unless something drastic changes in the next few days. TNT parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has a matching clause of some sort in its NBA contract, but the exact terms of that clause are unclear. For now, it looks like WBD has been outbid and the NBA is ready to move on.

Insider perspective

To find out what to expect next, we spoke to Front Office Sports Media reporter Michael McCarthy. “Negotiations will take place in the fourth quarter,” says our colleague. “Warner Bros. Discovery has the right to submit offers from third-party bidders. But as of press time, there have been no official offers to undercut. If they come from NBC and Amazon, WBD CEO David Zaslav will have a big decision to make. Will he effectively pay more for a lower NBA package? Or will he refuse to undercut higher bids, as NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol did in 2002? Does Zaslav want to go down in history as the WBD CEO who brought the NBA and Charles Barkley's Insights into the NBA?”