ESPN Has the Ability to Match Any Other Company’s NBA TV Rights Offer
Armed with steadily improving TV ratings and increasing attendance, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is preparing to negotiate a new television deal.
The last time we checked in on the proceedings, it looked like the exclusive window that Disney (which owns ESPN) and Warner Bros. Discovery (which owns TNT) had to negotiate with the NBA would close without a deal being struck.
The NBA on ESPN. Photo: ESPN
With the current deal set to expire at the end of the 2024-2025 season, NBA executives are hoping to get a new package in the range of $60 to $72 billion. Roughly 2.5 times the value of their current deal.
ESPN and TNT Can Match Any Other Entity’s NBA Offer
While a deal was not struck before the exclusive negotiating window closed, ESPN and TNT still have the inside track on retaining the NBA TV rights.
Not only have NBA executives previously stated that they want to remain partnered with the two media networks, but according to the Wall Street Journal’s Joe Flint, both ESPN and TNT have matching rights should another media company bid for the NBA rights.
While new NBA deals with current rights holders ESPN (Disney) & TNT (Warner Discovery) have not been struck as exclusive negotiating window deadline expires, both have strong matching rights should other parties swoop in with big proposed deals, per person the familiar matter.
— Joe Flint (@JBFlint) April 23, 2024
Austin Karp of the Sports Business Journal expanded on the matching rights, noting that the matching rights would expand to streaming.
Lebron James. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox. Getty Images)
“This could manifest itself in two key ways. One, should the NBA look to bring in a third party like Amazon, NBC/Peacock or otherwise on a streaming package, ESPN or TNT would have the right to match that sort of deal. Second, should another company like NBC look to take over an existing linear TV deal held by ESPN or TNT, those incumbents also would have the right to match that deal,” he said.
It Doesn’t Sound Like the NBA Is Going Anywhere
With Disney set to create a direct-to-consumer version of ESPN, it is unlikely that they are going to let the NBA go anywhere. Should a third party like Apple or Amazon make a bid for streaming, Disney could match. Additionally, it would likely take an astronomical number.
ESPN. Photo: GETTY IMAGES FOR ESPN
So, despite the fact that a deal has yet to be reached, I would not expect the NBA to go anywhere.
