ESPN is expected to air less NBA games in the US

The NBA has still not put pen to paper with any broadcast partners for the next media rights deal, but the details are continuing to emerge.

Multiple reports have indicated that the NBA is expected to continue airing games on ESPN/ABC, while NBCUniversal and Amazon are expected to be two new partners airing games on NBC/Peacock and Prime Video, respectively.

The three partners are expected to pay a total of $76 billion for 11 years, or about $6.9 billion per year, for broadcasting rights that start on the 2025-26 NBA season. ESPN's deal would be for around $2.6 billion annually, up from the $1.5 billion per year it paid in the previous deal. NBCUniversal will pay $2.5 billion per year while Amazon would cough up $1.8 billion, according to multiple reports.

Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to be left out of the fray for this deal, which reports indicate should be signed within the next few weeks.

More partners means that the NBA's content pie is cut up into even smaller bits. According to a new report, ESPN, the lone incumbent, is going to feel that change.

ESPN to air fewer regular season games in the US in new deal

ESPN is paying over a billion dollars per year more for the NBA this time around, but it's actually going to air fewer regular season games in the US.

According to a report by Sports Business Journal, ESPN will cut the number of NBA regular season games in order for the league to create its deals with NBC and Amazon. However, ESPN will expand its international and digital package in the new deal.

The exact details what ESPN will be receiving in its new package are unclear, but the company's decision to take more digital and international content with the NBA aligns to ESPN's overall strategy which is to move toward direct-to-consumer options. ESPN is slated to launch Venu Sports, a joint streaming property with WBD and Fox, in the fall. It's also expected to launch its own DTC platform in the next few years.

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An increased digital and international package also plays into the strengths of the NBA, whose television audience has stalled in the US over the last few years, but has continued to remain culturally relevant on social media while maintaining the strongest international audience of all US professional sports.

NBA regular season games have also lost some of its value due to the ratings plateau. The league has added an In-Season Tournament and Play-In Tournament that can be distributed among the partners, which should also factor into the final details of the deal.

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