NBA TV Negotiations

[Drew]

 

[Drew]

How the NBA Plans to Remake TV Deals and Net Billions of Dollars for Its Stars

The league seeks a big increase in media-rights fees by luring streamers, from Amazon to Apple, and offering games in local markets.

www.wsj.com

As the NBA enters its first media negotiations in a decade, its biggest partners, Disney’s ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT—which together pay about $2.6 billion a year— aren’t looking to pony up big spending increases.

If ESPN and TNT buy fewer games, that would allow the league to create a package for a streaming video player. Amazon and Apple already have expressed interest—and are looking for much more than a small slice of NBA games.

TV networks have a strong incentive to carry sports because it is among the only content people tune into in large numbers on cable nowadays. In addition to ESPN and TNT, NBC’s sports unit is also interested in NBA rights, a person familiar with the situation said. But networks are getting choosy. ESPN chose to pass on renewing rights to the Big Ten college football conference, for example, and took a smaller MLB package in the most recent negotiations.

The NBA will be the last major sports-media property to come up for bidding for a long time, said Lee Berke, president and chief executive of LHB Sports, Entertainment and Media, a sports media consulting firm. “This is the last train to jump on,” he said.

 

[Rufus]

WWE is in the middle of contract negotiations. USA has picked up Smackdown from FOX and will pay WWE 40% more than FOX did from the last contract. RAW and NXT are still being negotiated, and speculation is they will leave their longtime homes on USA for another channel or streaming service.

WWE Smackdown returning to USA Network in 'US$1.4bn' TV rights deal - SportsPro

The five-year deal with NBCUniversal is said to be worth US$287m per year on average, with the total contract being worth over US$1.4 bn.

www.sportspromedia.com

 

[billybud]

Random College Football Bowls Crush the NBA in Ratings

Do you remember when ESPN told us four years ago that the NBA would overtake the NFL and college football in popularity? The sports were 'trending that way,' said ESPN's Jalen Ro

www.outkick.com

 

[ramses 2.0]

Random College Football Bowls Crush the NBA in Ratings

Do you remember when ESPN told us four years ago that the NBA would overtake the NFL and college football in popularity? The sports were 'trending that way,' said ESPN's Jalen Ro

www.outkick.com

I think alot of people underestimate the NBA's reach for whatever reason. The thing people miss is that the NBA is the only true global professional US based league. 300 million plus people in China consume NBA content on a regular basis. So a national game audience of 2-3 million(US) includes several million more around the globe

 

[billybud]

I think alot of people underestimate the NBA's reach for whatever reason. The thing people miss is that the NBA is the only true global professional US based league. 300 million plus people in China consume NBA content on a regular basis. So a national game audience of 2-3 million(US) includes several million more around the globe

But how many global watchers view advertisements on ESPN that result in revenue for advertisers. May be why ESPN will not invest more in NBA rights.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

But how many global watchers view advertisements on ESPN that result in revenue for advertisers. May be why ESPN will not invest more in NBA rights.

ESPN has no viable business model right now.

 

[superjohn]

UConn seeks deals with Amazon, Apple and more...

Oh, this is about the NBA...

 

[ramses 2.0]

But how many global watchers view advertisements on ESPN that result in revenue for advertisers. May be why ESPN will not invest more in NBA rights.

Remember ESPN is bidding mostly on US domestic rights & may have some global rights based on whether their channels are carried in specific countries. The NBA has several deals with social media/digital sites overseas to carry live games/content. League Pass is the NBA's largest potential cash cow & ESPN currently gets none of that revenue.

 

[djct1999]

ESPN has no viable business model right now.

And no viable partner who is remotely interested at the Disney perceived market value. It seems like the new norm is to mention big tech when current bids are low. Eventually big tech will join but they will not overspend. Especially Apple.

 

[billybud]

According to this week's WSJ, ESPN did report a $2 billion profit over the last 9 months...

Not too shabby...may be down...but still profitable..

It is difficult to compare ESPN with Disney...The problem with comparing the ROI for the assets you create vs the ROI of the assets you buy and market is the level of investment it takes to manage each of them.

It's interesting that currently, the most profitable business that sells streaming entertainment that it creates is Netflix. Disney+ still is running losses and draining cash. The theme parks are saving the company...the live experience of the self created content. So Disney keeps raising the theme park prices and will do so until they see a real decline in attendance.

The reality though at the end of the day is Disney made some bad choices - got involved with politics, put out some poor content in key segments like Marvel, etc - and still had a massive profit. They will right the ship in those areas, will take time and focus. Probably years to fix.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Remember ESPN is bidding mostly on US domestic rights & may have some global rights based on whether their channels are carried in specific countries. The NBA has several deals with social media/digital sites overseas to carry live games/content. League Pass is the NBA's largest potential cash cow & ESPN currently gets none of that revenue.

ESPN has NCAA tourney global rights
They pay pretty much nothing for it . I always wondered what the ROI was on that i.
Basketball is the third most popular game in the world .popular in mzny countries and growing
like soccer it’s the people’s game
Football( Soccer in the US ) is number 1
Cricket is number 2 ( not popular In a great number of countries but being number 1 in India is huge
India Vs Pakistan match has a viewing audience of 225,000,000 people ..

 

[Waquoit]

India Vs Pakistan match has a viewing audience of 225,000,000 people ..

Pakistan embarrassed themselves in that one.

 

[billybud]

India cricket rights went cheap...but there aren't that many matches

Viacom18 bags Indian cricket digital and TV media rights for $720 million​

Deal comprises 88 matches between 2023-28 covering both digital and TV rights globally


https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/bcci-media-rights-viacom18-wins-digital-and-tv-rights-for-five-years-1395325

 

[JohnFSilver]

I think alot of people underestimate the NBA's reach for whatever reason. The thing people miss is that the NBA is the only true global professional US based league. 300 million plus people in China consume NBA content on a regular basis. So a national game audience of 2-3 million(US) includes several million more around the globe

Nba is pretty big. The international and merchandising are monsters.

There is a weird thing in our culture where people think nba is on the down slope. Last 5 MVPs all
Foreign born.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

The NBA is going to do just fine with their next contract

 

[UConnJim]

The NBA is going to do just fine with their next contract

I agree. It's a globally popular sport and you can build content around the NBA as well. I remember when GE (NBC) lost out on the NFL because they thought the price was too high. They regretted that decision almost immediately and struggled for years trying to get a piece of the NFL content.

I think ESPN's problem when it comes to bidding on the NBA is that they could undergo an ownership change and may not want to commit to a large dollar content deal before they have a new owner.

 

[ramses 2.0]

TNT just won the exclusive rights to the NBA in the UK,it includes all nationally broadcast games, the entire playoffs, NBA draft,NBA finals etc. So that's the package that is split between ESPN/TNT in the US & that's part of the reason ESPN is reluctant to break the the bank

 

[ZooCougar]

The networks are just holding onto their cash because they want to make. HUGE offer on Bige East Basketball.