NBA: If Diamond Sports Group Loses Local Rights Next Season, Who Could Step in? Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, More Options
The NBA’s national media contract negotiations haven’t become a hot topic just yet, but the temperature around that topic will only increase as the months roll along. The league’s current deals with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery expire after the 2024-25 season, and the exclusive negotiating window for the three sides is open now.
Local broadcasts for NBA games are suddenly much more in doubt, however. Half of the league’s 30 teams air their games locally on Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks, but the channels’ parent company Diamond Sports Group (DSG) has been working through bankruptcy court proceedings since March as it tries to resolve a debt of more than $8 billion.
DSG’s carriage deals with Comcast and DIRECTV expire in the coming months. It relies on the income it gets from those companies to exist, but it will have a hard time convincing either provider that it deserves a retransmission fee increase in its next deal, and if those companies decide to walk away from their business relationships with Diamond, it could mean the company won’t be able to live up to its contracts with NBA teams this season.
If that happens, the NBA will have to find new partners to help it air games locally, and fast. That’s the conundrum Major League Baseball has found itself in this season, as the league has had to take over production of both San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks games on short notice this season.
The good news for the NBA is that it already has interested parties lined up to help it with its local broadcasting duties should DSG be forced to surrender its contracts. A report from Bloomberg indicates that DSG has been hesitant to commit to the upcoming NBA season, and that tech firms like Apple, Amazon, and YouTube have all expressed interest in local NBA rights currently held by Diamond, as has Disney.
If one of those companies does acquire local NBA rights at some point in 2023, it could mean an increased presence for the league on streaming right away. Apple now has several months’ experience with its new sports streaming app MLS Season Pass, and could spin up a new platform that offers local games to in-market fans. Amazon could do likewise, and was reportedly building a new app dedicated to sports streaming last December, though little has been heard from the company since on the subject.
The league wants to sell a package of games to a streaming platform in its next national broadcast deal, so it would make sense for it to partner with a company with streaming experience for local broadcasts as well. Bloomberg reports that DIRECTV has also expressed interest in acquiring the rights if they depart Bally Sports channels, though if it got them it’s reasonable to surmise the games probably wouldn’t see wider distribution via streaming.
Another option for the NBA could be to send those teams back to local broadcasting channels, which would be the ideal choice for fans if the league can’t sell their rights in one bunch to one company. The Phoenix Suns will be available on local channels this season without the need for a cable or satellite subscription, as will the Utah Jazz. Both teams are seeing their coverage extended to parts of their respective states that never got their games before, and that increased engagement will be a boon to the league this year.
Although the report doesn’t list WBD as having confirmed interest in local NBA rights, the company is gearing up to put live sports from major American sports leagues onto Max for the first time. Getting local NBA rights would be messier than streaming nationally-broadcast games on the service, but it could be doable if WBD thought the numbers made sense.
MLB has taken center stage in DSG’s bankruptcy court drama thus far, but as the NBA and NHL seasons get ready to start up again the focus will shift. If DSG is forced to give up the NBA at some point this season, there are several potential alternative partners poised to step in and help distribute games.
Max
Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library, along with exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Thanks to the B/R Sports add-on, users can watch NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.