NBA’s Exclusive TV Rights Negotiating Window Expected To Pass

The National Basketball Association’s exclusive media rights negotiating window with current partners Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery is likely to expire Monday without a new deal, according to CNBC citing people familiar with the matter.

Beginning next week, the NBA will be able to work on agreements for new partners to show packages of games. Amazon, Apple, YouTube TV, Comcast’s NBCUniversal/Peacock and Netflix have all had preliminary conversations with the league expressing potential interest, CNBC reported last year. The exclusive negotiating window with the league’s incumbent partners officially ends Monday.

While no agreement is expected to be announced by the deadline, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery both continue to work on terms with the league, an NBA spokesperson confirmed. The NBA would like to bring in at least one new partner to serve as a flagship streamer, CNBC reported last year. The league wants a “robust” streaming partner that will use marketing and reach to make the games a priority on their platform, CNBC reported.

“We continue to have productive discussions with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery on a renewal of our media deals,” a league spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s TBS began airing NBA games in 1984, and TNT has shown NBA games since 1988. Disney’s ESPN and ABC have broadcast the NBA since 2002. The two companies have both publicly expressed a desire to renew with the NBA and have joined forces with Fox to launch a new streaming service geared to sports fans that don’t already pay for cable. That service will debut in the fall, the companies said earlier this year.

The NBA is looking to double the $24 billion it generated from its previous media rights deal with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery by adding new partners and charging more for rights