Comcast’s NBCUniversal is preparing to make a strong bid to win back National Basketball Association broadcast rights more than 20 years after the company lost them to Disney and Turner Sports, according to CNBC citing people familiar with the matter.
NBCUniversal executives have informed the NBA of their interest, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. NBC Sports wants a package that would include playoff games to air on NBC’s broadcast network, two of the people said. Some regular season games could be exclusive to NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock. The NBA could also decide to force media companies to simulcast all games on streaming to increase reach, the people said.
Apple and Amazon have also expressed interest to the NBA in buying carved-out streaming packages, said people familiar with the matter. Amazon currently has a deal with the NBA allowing it to stream games in Brazil.
No formal discussions can take place with non-incumbent bidders unless Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns Turner Sports, and Disney agree to waive their exclusive negotiation windows, which end in April 2024.
An NBA spokesperson confirmed no talks have taken place with NBCUniversal at this time over national rights while adding the league has had “a longtime relationship with Comcast/NBA as a previous NBA national TV rightsholder and through many of our teams’ partnerships with NBC Sports regional sports networks.”
Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery own the NBA rights until the end of the 2024-2025 season — more than two more years from now. It’s possible the NBA could simply re-up with both existing parties and never open negotiations to outside bidders. That’s what happened in 2014, the league’s most recent renewal.
But that’s not likely to happen this time as streaming has taken over as the dominant distribution method of TV watching, the people said. The NBA is likely to carve out one or two new packages for bidders, pushing their media rights partners from two to either three or four, two of the people said.
Disney is expected to bid on a package of rights for ESPN, ESPN+ and ABC, said the people.
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