NBA closing in on landmark broadcast rights deal with Amazon: Report

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1. NBA

• Published: Apr. 29, 2024, 4:00 p.m.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks during a news conference during the NBA basketball All-Star weekend Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)AP

The NBA and Amazon Prime are closing in on a landmark deal that will give the streaming giant a significant portion of the league's regular season and playoff game.

According to The Athletic's Andrew Marchand, the "framework" of a deal between the NBA and Amazon calls for games broadcast on Prime Video for at "least the next decade." The deal would begin starting in the 2025-26 season.

The deal would mark the first time NBA games would be broadcast exclusively on a streaming channel. Amazon currently streams NFL games on Thursday nights.

Amazon's entry into broadcasting NBA games came as a result of ESPN's next rights deal is expected to decrease from 100 to 80 games broadcast during the season, but will include the NBA Finals, according to John Ourand's Puck.news. Those extra games are expected to be part of the games switching to Amazon.

The NBA is expected to create a third package of games that will be available for broadcasters. Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD), which currently owns TNT and NBC (owned by Comcast) are expected to compete for that package.

The league could split the remaining games between TNT, which currently has a deal with the league, and NBC, which lost its rights to NBA games in 2002. The network, along with its streaming partner Peacock, wants back in.

The NBA is finishing nine-year deals that pay it $2.6 billion on average from ESPN and TNT Sports. Those contracts end after the 2024-2025 season.

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