The NBA and Streaming Are a Match Made in Heaven, and New Rights Deal Will Reflect It
Streaming will have a much greater presence in the NBA’s next rights deal, according to the league’s top media executive.
At this point, the list of parties interested in doing business with the NBA is far shorter than the list of companies who say they don’t want to be in the mix. Even Fox, who stated flatly earlier this year that it had no interest in the pursuit of the NBA’s rights, has reversed course somewhat, recently agreeing to a deal that will see NBA G League games stream on its free streaming platform Tubi.
- The NBA will have a much bigger presence on subscription streaming platforms, says league executive Bill Koenig.
- Blackouts could soon be a thing of the past for the league.
- Streaming provides a global distribution network for the NBA, while the league’s long season will help streamers keep users engaged and lower churn.
Will There Be More NBA Games on Streaming Than Traditional TV in Next Deal?
The NBA’s current broadcast contracts, both domestically and internationally, all expire after the conclusion of the 2024-25 season or earlier. This includes its local broadcasting agreements; the league recently agreed to a modified deal with Diamond Sports Group that will send the broadcast rights to the 15 NBA teams that Diamond currently owns back to those clubs following the 2023 season.
The NBA’s top media executive Bill Koening recently spoke at Sports Business Journal's Media Innovators conference to give fans more of an idea about what they could expect in the league’s next contract with providers. He said that fans could expect more change in the next five years than they have in the past 30 regarding NBA broadcasts, but laid out the ways in which the league is trying to improve its distribution.
Streaming services have not been viewed by sports leagues as an efficient distribution platform in the past. Traditionally, the hundreds of millions of cable subscribers were a much more attractive proposition for leagues, but with services like Disney+ and Prime Video now claiming hundreds of millions of global users, the equation is shifting. That could lead to a streaming service picking up a big package of NBA games in the league’s next rights deal.
“Historically, we thought of a simulcast as something that aired on linear television and then maybe had another telecast or also re-aired the simulcast on digital,” Koenig said. “We’re going to probably flip it around where you’ll see the games — because of personalization and other things — be based on a digital distribution with simulcast opportunities on linear.”
Currently, NBA games on national television are shown on ABC, ESPN, or TNT. But Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly want smaller packages of games in the next NBA contract, creating an opportunity for a streaming platform to step in and take on a significant portion of the NBA season overall.
One of the reasons the league will be so attractive to streaming services heading into the negotiations is because of the sheer number of NBA and WNBA games available. Koening mentioned the two leagues combined have enough content for around 320 days of games per year, and that volume will be critical as streaming services try to reduce churn by separating themselves from their competitors and making themselves indispensable.
Global Distribution, No More Blackouts
The reclamation of its local rights, as well as the end of its international agreements before the end of the 2024-25 season, gives the NBA a ton of flexibility heading into negotiations. For example, if a company like Apple, which prizes the ability to offer sporting events to as large a global audience as possible wanted to make an eye-popping offer for domestic and international streaming rights, the NBA could at least listen to that offer.
“That’s the type of thing that appeals to some of these global streaming companies because … they’re looking for hits,” Koenig said. “Live premium sports is a hit every year.”
Users who are tired of seeing their favorite local team blacked out thanks to local broadcasting restrictions will be pleased to learn that league executives are aware of the problem, and don’t want it to continue. The sale of the league’s in-market rights could be accompanied by a proviso that whichever network shows them has to create a direct-to-consumer option that doesn’t require a pay-TV subscription to access so that local fans always have a solution to watch games.
“The day will come where you’ll come to the NBA app, and you’ll click on the [Wizards][Washingon Wizards] -Celtics game; and if you’re in Washington — and if you’re an authenticated subscriber to {Monumental Sports Network} — you’ll go straight into that game,” Koenig explained. “If you’re not, you’ll be prompted to subscribe for the season or for a month … The games aren’t necessarily free, but what we like to say internally is that there’s no dead end. You can always have an option ultimately to buy and access a game. And, frankly, we want that everywhere in the world.”
The acquisition of local and national broadcast rights has been specifically cited as important by Amazon. The company has more than once been mentioned as a top potential destination for the NBA, and would like to create a weekly event for basketball games the same way it does for “Thursday Night Football” broadcasts during the NFL season. But Amazon also wants to ensure it can offer those games to national as well as local audiences, with no blackouts attached.
Streaming is the perfect medium for the NBA as it tries to expand its reach around the globe. It’s available everywhere that has broadband capability, and the number of NBA and WNBA games available each year could help whichever streamer lands a large package of those games reduce churn significantly and keep subscribers engaged.
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.