New York Knicks Owner Blasts New NBA Broadcast Deal for Taking Games Off Regional Networks Like One He Owns
New York Knicks Owner Blasts New NBA Broadcast Deal for Taking Games Off Regional Networks Like One He Owns
Dolan castigated the deal for pulling games off regional sports networks and forcing him to potentially accept less revenue.
The NBA is officially moving forward on its new $76 billion deal for nationally broadcast games starting in the 2025-26 season. The contracts were put up for a vote by the NBA’s Board of Governors on Tuesday and presumably passed overwhelmingly. But there is one team owner who isn’t at all thrilled with the deal: New York Knicks governor James Dolan. As reported by ESPN, in a letter to the other governors, Dolan blasted the deal, saying it would harm the league’s relationships with regional sports networks (RSNs) and pull revenue away from teams because it makes more games national broadcasts.
Key Details:
- Dolan shamed the deal for more closely aligning the NBA’s contracts with the NFL’s business strategy.
- The Knicks made around $3 million per locally-broadcast game in 2023-24.
- The approval of the deal kicks off a five-day period in which WBD can try to match NBC or Amazon’s bid for a rights package.
Dolan’s letter to the rest of the NBA’s owners makes no secret about his feelings surrounding the new media rights contract. Dolan’s signature fiery, sarcastic tone is employed throughout the letter, particularly when discussing the revenue-sharing arrangement that guarantees all teams get a slice of the financial pie.
“The NBA has made the move to an NFL model — deemphasizing and depowering the local market,” Dolan wrote. “Soon, your only revenue concern will be the sale of tickets and what color next year’s jersey will be. Don’t worry, because due to revenue pooling, you are guaranteed to be neither a success nor a failure. Of course, to get there, the league must take down the successful franchises and redistribute to the less successful. This new media deal goes a long way to accomplishing that goal.”
Though the Knicks haven’t won a championship since 1973, Dolan’s franchise does still benefit from the fact that it is in the largest media market in the country and therefore has the ability to generate more revenue than just about any other team in the sport. And from a logistical standpoint, Dolan is right, the deal will mean fewer games will appear on RSNs; the new contracts stipulate that the maximum number of national-exclusive games for each team has been raised from 12 to 18.
That will hurt owners like Dolan, whose teams generate a significant amount of revenue from in-market deals with RSNs. According to Sports Business Journal, the Knicks made around $3 million per game from in-market broadcasts last year. Worse for Dolan, he owns MSG, which is the RSN that holds the rights to the Knicks. So, even though the new deal puts more games on broadcast networks — which customers can access them free — and streaming services — which are markedly cheaper than cable subscriptions — Dolan is vehemently against it because it leaves him with less money. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been increasingly wary of RSN partnerships, particularly in the face of the protracted Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy proceedings, and the mutual dislike Silver and Dolan have for each other is no secret.
The deal will see the NBA collect $76 billion over 11 years. As it stands, the league will sell its “A” package of rights to ABC and ESPN for $2.6 billion per season, the “B” package to NBC and Peacock for $2.5 billion, and the “C” package to Prime Video for $1.8 billion.
What’s Next for Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA?
The NBA’s broadcasting arrangements still can’t be considered finalized, because of a clause in Warner Bros. Discovery’s current contract with the NBA. That deal stipulates that WBD can match any third-party offer for NBA rights, and now that the board of governors has approved the new contracts, WBD has five days to decide whether to exercise those rights.
The company is widely expected to try and match Amazon’s offer for the “C” package, and a lawsuit could be in the league’s future if it tries to deny WBD’s matching offer based on questions of game windowing and reach.
Despite Dolan’s objections, the league’s broadcasting arrangements for the 2025-26 season and beyond are crystalizing fast. Essentially the only major unknown remaining is whether WBD will swoop in and snag the “C” package at the eleventh hour, or whether it will end a relationship with the Association that has gone on since the 1980s.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Amazon Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.