In The Latest Battle For TV Rights, NBC Is Now Planning To Offer $2.5B In An Effort To Steal The NBA From TNT

David Dow. Getty Images.

(NY Post) - NBCUniversal is planning to pay an average of about $2.5 billion a year for the rights to the NBA as fees for the league’s coveted broadcasts are set to double from current levels, according to a report Monday.

If accepted, the broadcast rights to the basketball games could change hands from TNT, which has paid an average fee of $1.2 billion under its current deal, to the Peacock network, The Wall Street Journal reported.

TNT-parent Warner Bros Discovery was unable to reach a new pact with the NBA before an exclusive negotiating window expired last week.

Well, this is pretty massive news. While generally I don't really care about pro league's broadcasting rights and all that fancy business stuff, when it comes to the NBA that is not the case. I am very much interested in where the broadcasting of games will live, because removing the NBA from TNT I'm assuming means the end of Inside The NBA, and that's something NOBODY wants considering it's the best show on TV and has been for decades. Having NBA basketball and no Inside The NBA feels beyond wrong and is not a world I would like to live in. For that to be ripped from us over some money bullshit is very annoying.

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On the other hand, a return to NBC I would imagine could mean the return of this

which would be fantastic news. NBA on NBC is what I and many others grew up with, and considering everyone loves nostalgia I think we all would welcome that theme song back in our lives again and everything that comes with an NBC broadcast.

The details around the deal are starting to come out

The package that NBC is bidding on would include playoff and regular season games that would appear on NBC and its streaming service Peacock. The Journal added that NBC has discussed carrying two prime-time games a week, which Warner can’t offer because it doesn’t own a broadcast network.

Each TV partner would air fewer games under their new deals than under the current pacts because the league set aside some games for its streaming partner, Amazon Prime Video, which already has the framework of a deal in place, according to The Athletic.

and that's where things get a little tricky. You knew once the NBA failed to reach an agreement that it was only a matter of time before Amazon threw their big ol dick into the ring, and that's apparently what has happened

In what will be a landmark move in sports media history, the NBA and Amazon Prime Video have the framework of a deal that will make the streaming service one of the main homes for the league’s games, executives with direct knowledge of the talks told The Athletic.

It is expected that Prime Video’s package will include significant regular-season and postseason games, perhaps even some conference finals. The anticipation is that the final contract will be for at least a decade and begin the 2025-2026 season.

ESPN/ABC, as the website Puck reported Thursday, also has a framework of a deal with the expectations that an agreement will be completed. ESPN/ABC is expected to keep the NBA Finals on its networks for the duration of its deals. Like Amazon, ESPN’s new contract also is expected to be at least a decade in length.

As a consumer, it's all pretty annoying. Gone are the days when you could just turn on the TV and watch sports. Now you have to go to multiple networks, and multiple streaming services, it's all a bit much. We saw how things went with the NFL on Peacock and Amazon, and while the broadcasts themselves were fine, it's still a pain in the ass to have to deal with. I get the future is in streaming and technology and all that bullshit, but it sometimes feels like we're doing more harm than good.  

At the same time, if TNT losing broadcast rights helps prevent or eliminate the annoying blackout issue in the NBA, maybe that's for the best? As a reminder, this is what happened last night in OKC

which is equally annoying for fans. In all honestly, the NBA has a ton of blackout/broadcasting issues that expand beyond just which channels get to show the games. 

Again, I'm not really a business guy and I have zero idea how these negotiations work, I just feel like there has to be a way for everyone to get what they want. Give Amazon/ESPN some games, give TNT some games, and give NBC some games. There has to be a way to make that all work, because we cannot lose Inside The NBA. Give someone the IST games as a package or something since nobody really cares about those yet. I dunno, I'm just an ideas guy who is simply asking for the league to

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without robbing us of Inside The NBA.

I do wonder if all the guys have opt-outs should TNT lose the NBA, and if that's the case and we could still get Inside The NBA regardless of how this negotiation plays out, well then that's really all I care about. I don't care if I'm watching that show on Amazon or ESPN or TNT or whatever. Just make sure it's on air and I'll watch. I'll be annoyed if it's through some sort of annoying streaming option because I'm an old, but I'll do it. Life simply isn't the same without them.