The NBA can now talk to any broadcaster about its next media rights deal — but reports suggest that the league is likely to stick with its two incumbent partners.
A few hours before the 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time deadline, a report from Puck said that sources indicated that there could be "handshake agreements" between the NBA and its current partners, Disney's (DIS) ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) Turner Sports.
While these deals haven't been confirmed — and wouldn't be legally binding even if they were — they point in the direction that ESPN and TNT will likely continue to carry NBA games beyond the duration of the current media rights deal that ends after next season.
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But this by no means changes the possibility that NBA rights will be held by at least one or even two more partners.
The report doubled down on the NBA likely seeking three or even four partners for its next deal, and the likes of Amazon, NBC, Netflix, YouTube and Apple are all in play for the rights.
These players could take a chunk of the airtime from the two incumbents. Puck reported that there are sources who believe ESPN will cut down on its NBA games as the network tries to pivot its strategy and cut down expenses.
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The NBA is also reportedly considering divvying up the rights to the NBA Finals, which have been aired on Disney's ABC since 2002. There was previous report by The Athletic that the NBA could even have its top games like Finals or Conference Finals on streaming services like Amazon's Prime Video or NBC's Peacock down the line.
WBD has the rights to the Eastern Conference Finals, which is also reportedly in jeopardy. The Puck report suggests that despite the looming debt of the company at large, it is "prepared to pay up" to keep the NBA rights from challengers like Amazon and NBC.
In WBD's Q4 earnings call in February, WBD's President and CEO David Zaslav said that the company is "engaged in renewal discussions" with the NBA.
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