SportsPro presents all the key off-court details for the planet’s preeminent basketball competition and its 30 franchises.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) approaches the end of its 77th season with its reputation as arguably the world’s most forward-thinking sports league firmly intact.
Most recently, commissioner Adam Silver showed off new technology that will allow fans to insert a 3D avatar of themselves into a live game using the league’s revamped app and streaming service.
The timing of that showcase was perhaps no coincidence, with the NBA set to start negotiations over its next domestic media rights deals which kick in from 2025. The league will be hoping that its reputation for innovation will be enough to convince broadcasters to triple the fee it currently receives from Disney and Discovery, with CNBC reporting that the competition wants US$75 billion from its new contracts.
According to reports, the incumbents have until April 2024 to exclusively negotiate extensions to their contracts, but should that window pass the NBA is likely to find plenty of willing replacements. NBC is among the more traditional media companies that have been linked with a bid for the rights, while the usual Big Tech suspects – Amazon, Apple and Google – are all reported to have expressed an interest in acquiring a carved-out streaming package.
