It’s time to start playing the Roundball Rock. After months of heavy speculation, the NBA’s new media rights deals have been finalized. As has been expected, Comcast-owned NBC and Peacock along with Amazon’s Prime Video will join Disney’s ABC and ESPN as the television and streaming partners for national NBA games starting in the 2025-26 season.
The new deals run for 11 years and are reported to be worth a total of $77 billion. It remains unclear if TNT, which currently broadcasts NBA games, will be successful in utilizing a matching rights clause in its existing TV deal to keep one of the three packages.
Here’s what you need to know.
Where can I watch the NBA for the 2024-25 season?
The NBA has long aired games on ESPN, ABC and TNT, and that isn’t expected to change for the upcoming season. The new media deals that have caught headlines will begin with the 2025-26 NBA season.
While it isn’t exactly clear what might happen with the in-season tournament for 2024-25 (ESPN and TNT shared the games last year), you can expect to watch national NBA games next season just as you did this past season.
Can I stream the NBA this upcoming season?
Yes, the NBA’s national games will be streamable. Just like last year, you can expect to watch games on streaming TV services like YouTube TV, DirecTV, Sling TV and the upcoming Venu Sports (a sports-focused streaming service that’s a joint venture between Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox), as well as on Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, which has streamed TNT games.
Whether Max will charge for the NBA this upcoming season, however, remains to be seen. It has previously said it planned to charge extra for live sports but has so far repeatedly delayed the move.
What is going to happen to TNT’s Inside the NBA?
Victor Wembanyama, middle, of the San Antonio Spurs is interviewed by Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley from TNT.
This also remains unclear. With TNT losing its NBA rights, it seems like the end is near for the Inside the NBA studio show and its long, celebrated and award-winning run. Host Ernie Johnson has reportedly said he doesn’t want to leave the network (where he also does MLB and March Madness coverage), and star Charles Barkley has already said he would retire from television after next season. It is unclear what the other stars of Inside the NBA, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal, are planning on doing or if a version of the show might live on with a different network or streamer.
Who is taking over the NBA rights starting in 2025-26?
The NBA will continue to broadcast games on ABC and ESPN, with TNT currently dropping out and being replaced by Amazon’s Prime Video, NBC and Peacock.
So is TNT officially out?
It seems so. Because of that possible matching language in its existing media deal, Warner Bros. Discovery had a chance to match the new deals and keep the NBA. In a statement released on Wednesday, the NBA said it declined the proposal from Warner Bros. Discovery.
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon,” the league said in a statement.
“Throughout these negotiations, our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans. Our new arrangement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements. All three partners have also committed substantial resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience.”
In a statement of its own released after the NBA’s new deals were announced, TNT Sports pushed back. The company says that it matched Amazon’s bid under its “contractual right” and that it does not believe that “the NBA can reject it.”
“We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action.” It remains unclear if that action will see Warner Bros. Discovery sue the NBA.
TNT Sports’ statement on NBA media rights: pic.twitter.com/9L3fiFXoDH
— TNT Sports U.S. PR (@TNTSportsUS) July 24, 2024
When will games air on each new platform under the new deal?
Here’s how things are shaping up under the new NBA media deal.
NBC/Peacock:
Under the new deal, NBC and Peacock will air 100 NBA regular season games each year, with “more than half” airing on NBC on Sunday and Tuesday nights. NBC will also have the NBA’s opening night doubleheader and “at least two games on MLK Day on NBC and/or Peacock each season.”
Given that NBC has Sunday Night Football during the NFL season, those Sunday night NBA games will start after the NFL playoffs.
Peacock (which also allows for streaming of NBC stations) will have doubleheaders streaming every Monday night of the regular season, with Tuesday night featuring “two games across certain NBC affiliate broadcast stations in different regions of the country.” Per the league, the first game will air at 8 p.m. ET and be available on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones while the second game will air at 8 p.m. PT and be available to those living in the Pacific and Mountain time zones.
NBC will also air the NBA All-Star game and surrounding All-Star weekend events. During the playoffs, NBC/Peacock will have “approximately 28 games in the first two rounds of the playoffs, with at least half of those games airing on NBC.” NBC will also have six Conference Finals, rotating years with Amazon. NBC/Peacock will have the first conference finals of this new deal in 2025-26.
And yes, NBC has confirmed that it is bringing back its iconic Roundball Rock theme song.
🗣 TURN IT UP. I LOVE THIS SONG!
The NBA is coming back – Fall 2025 on NBC and Peacock. pic.twitter.com/xz6hOVbpZE— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 24, 2024
ABC/ESPN
Disney’s properties will get 80 regular season games each year, with “more than 20 games on ABC.” ABC games will air on either Saturday or Sunday, while ESPN will continue to air games on Wednesdays and “on occasion” Friday nights. All five Christmas Day games will be on ABC/ESPN.
For the playoffs, the Disney properties will “telecast approximately 18 games in the first two rounds each year and one of the two Conference Finals series in 10 of the 11 years of the agreement.” ABC will stay as the exclusive broadcaster of the NBA Finals, and ABC/ESPN will remain the home for the NBA Draft, Draft Lottery and other events like the All-Star Celebrity Game and half of the Summer League games.
The NBA says that the ABC/ESPN games will also be available on ESPN’s upcoming streaming service.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon will get 66 regular season games for Prime Video every year, including an opening week doubleheader, Friday night games, “select Saturday afternoon games” as well as Thursday night doubleheaders. The latter will start in January after Amazon’s done with airing the NFL and Thursday Night Football.
Amazon will also have “at least” one Black Friday game each year, the quarterfinals and semifinals of the knockout stage in the NBA’s in-season tournament (called the “Emirates NBA Cup”) as well as the tournament’s championship game.
For the playoffs, Prime Video will have all six play-in games and stream “approximately one-third of the first and second rounds” every season. As mentioned above, it will rotate having a conference finals with NBC/Peacock each year with Prime Video’s first conference finals slated for the 2026-27 season.
In addition to its assortment of games, as part of the new deal the NBA is teaming up with Amazon to have the latter’s Prime Video Channels become the “global” third-party option to sign up for NBA League Pass, the league’s service for streaming out-of-market games in the US and internationally.
How much will these new league fees cost?
According to CNBC, Disney will reportedly be paying $2.62 billion per year for its package of games, NBC will shell out $2.45 billion and Amazon is expected to spend $1.8 billion.
