NBA signs broadcasting deal with Disney, Amazon, Comcast worth US$76 billion

NEW YORK – The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced an 11-year global media rights deals with The Walt Disney Company’s ESPN, NBCUniversal and Amazon on July 24 worth approximately US$76 billion (S$102 billion), and running from 2025-26 until the 2035-36 season.

Even though no financial details were officially revealed, ESPN, The Wall Street Journal and Forbes magazine have reported the combined figure for the deals.

“Our new global media agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon will maximise the reach and accessibility of NBA games for fans in the United States and around the world,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.

“These partners will distribute our content across a wide range of platforms and help transform the fan experience over the next decade.”

The move came after the league rejected a last-minute offer from Warner Bros Discovery’s TNT Sports division, which it said fell short of Amazon’s proposal.

“Warner Brothers 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 NBA said.

“Our primary objective has been to maximise 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.”

The league’s upcoming campaign will be its last with four-decade partner TNT. The deal represents a blow to Warner’s sports division, adding to investor concerns about its role in a new sports-streaming partnership with Disney and Fox called Venu Sports.

TNT promised to fight the NBA’s decision, saying on social media that it will take action.

“We have matched the Amazon offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it,” the statement said. “We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond and we will take appropriate action.”

Separately, the Women’s NBA also announced an 11-year rights deal with Disney, Amazon and NBCUniversal in contracts worth a total of US$2.2 billion, The Athletic and ESPN reported.

“Partnering with Disney, Amazon and NBCU marks a monumental chapter in WNBA history and clearly demonstrates the significant rise in value and the historic level of interest in women’s basketball,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. AFP, REUTERS