Changes are coming to how basketball fans consume the NBA.
The NBA's broadcast rights deal with ESPN and TNT Sports will end following the 2024-25 season, opening the door for new networks and streaming services to serve as the home for action in the association.
While the end of the current deal is one season away, reports and rumors have surfaced about where the NBA will air over the next decade. Here's an updated look at what the future of NBA coverage could look like.
MORE: Could NBA players play in the NFL? Here's 30 we'd like to see try
Latest news and rumors on NBA's TV rights deal
Charles Barkley 2024-25 season will be ‘tough lame duck year’ if TNT loses rights
Source: SiriusXM NBA Radio
Date: May 22
Nothing is official still, but with it looking more and more likely that TNT is losing the right to NBA broadcasts, it's time to look ahead as to what might happen next year. TNT has the rights for one more season, but Charles Barkley says if the network loses the rights after that, the 2024-25 season will be "tough lame duck year."
"You know the real thing that sucks?" Barkley said. "We got another year. It will be a really tough lame duck year and the people know they’re going to get fired at the end of the year. I was thinking about hanging it up anyway. I told these guys that I was going to retire soon anyway. But like I said, I just feel bad for the people around me…It just sucks, plain and simple. That’s the only thing I can say."
NBA is formalizing deals with Disney, Amazon, NBC
Source: Tom Friend, Sports Business Journal
Date: May 22
The NBA is in the process of formalizing written contracts with Disney, NBC and Amazon this week, according to Friend.
As these deals are finalized, Friend reports that "the league will take NBC's contract to Warner Bros. Discovery to see if WBD CEO David Zaslav is able to match it in "total value."
If not, the 2024-25 season is expected to be the final year of Turner's NBA coverage.
Creator of "Roundball Rock" theme song suggests NBA on NBC's return
Source: John Tesh, creator of "Roundball Rock"
Date: May 21
Several reports suggested that NBCUniversal is one of the companies that will come to an agreement with the NBA's upcoming television rights deal.
John Tesh, the creator of NBA on NBC's "Roundball Rock" theme song, may have accidentally spoiled the show's return on the "Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz."
"At the end of June, we're heading to Nashville, we've got a full orchestra on hold and we're going to re-record it," Tesh told Le Batard.
BREAKING: NBC has contacted John Tesh about reviving the iconic NBA on NBC theme song 'Roundball Rock' amid NBA rights dealnegotiations.
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) May 21, 2024
"At the end of June, we're heading to Nashville, we've got a full orchestra on hold & we're going to re-record it."https://t.co/J2Tb1XxPY9 pic.twitter.com/F6YUXSRpk4
Charles Barkley jokes about the potential end of 'Inside the NBA'
Source: Charles Barkley
Date: May 19
As the rumors continue to heat up, Barkley has made it a point to address them with his signature humor.
Following Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals, Barkley added fuel to the fire by joking that he'd be on LinkedIn to search for work during the week.
Charles Barkley once again jokes about Inside the NBA potentially coming to an end if TNT loses its broadcast rights to the NBA, which got some laughs out of Kenny Smith.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 20, 2024
"Wait, 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon? We're not doing that are we? Because I'm gonna be on LinkedIn tomorrow… pic.twitter.com/4NHYuXplu0
Kenny Smith says 'this might be our last day' on TNT broadcast
Source: Kenny Smith
Date: May 15
The rumors that TNT is losing its licensing with the NBA are growing thanks to a quick one-liner from Kenny Smith on the NBA on TNT broadcast.
As the show began heading to commercial break, Smith and his partners were laughing about the stairlift inputted by the big screen. Smith then added "Oh this might be our last day anyway."
"Oh this might be our last day anyway" - Kenny Smith pic.twitter.com/4CEWDjeCaB
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 16, 2024
There hasn't been a final decision regarding the NBA's licensing deal for the upcoming season, but this isn't promising for TNT.
Charles Barkley admits 'concern' over TNT's future with NBA
Source: ESPN 1000
Date: May 15
NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley went on ESPN 1000, a Chicago-based radio show, to discuss the ongoing NBA rights battle. The former NBA big man admitted he was "concerned" over the future of the show amid all of the reports.
"We have zero idea what's going to happen, we might lose it," Barkley said. "I feel so bad for the people I work with. It is brutal, it is flat-out brutal. Everybody is scared to death.
"It's very stressful for the people I work with. I wish I could give you an answer. We might lose it. It's 50-50 ... Am I concerned? 100%."
NBCUniversal is 'in driver's seat' with NBA media rights negotiations
Source: Tom Friend, Sports Business Journal
Date: May 9
"Sources continue to insist Comcast's NBCUniversal will capture the third NBA package," Friend wrote in the SBJ article. NBCUniversal's bid is reportedly worth $2.5 billion annually, and would include a "Basketball Night in America" program, similar to its NFL Sunday "Football Night in America."
Friend added that "details are still being massaged with nothing finalized," but "there is little WBD CEO David Zaslav can do to overtake NBC unless he coughs up perhaps as much as $2.8 billion or more."
NBC's package is set to include Sunday night games after the NFL season, "while perhaps taking over ESPN's Friday night slate and TNT's second-round playoff and conference final package."
TNT Sports is left 'fighting' to retain NBA rights; potential deal worth $2.5B
Source: Andrew Marchand, The Athletic
Date: May 8
In 2022, TNT Sports CEO David Zaslav said “We don’t have to have the NBA,” during an RBC investor conference.
Two years later, Marchand reports that Zaslav and TNT Sports would need to pay a figure of around $2.5 billion to retain the network's NBA rights deal "for a lesser package than he currently owns," meaning the network will not cover the breadth that it currently does.
Charles Barkley prepared to walk from TNT Sports if network loses NBA rights
Source: Charles Barkley
Date: May 1
During an interview with 850 ESPN Cleveland, Barkley revealed that he can opt out of his contract with TNT Sports to become a free agent if the network does not remain a home of the NBA.
"I said, ‘If you guys lose the NBA, I want to make sure that I can get out of here.’ So I am actually in a really great position,” Barkley said. “Listen, I love TNT, they’ve been great to me … I wanted to make sure that if we lost the NBA in two years, I could be a free agent.”
MORE: What is 'Roundball Rock?' The story behind NBC's iconic NBA theme song
With NBC looming, TNT Sports' future as the NBA's rights holder is in jeopardy
Source: Andrew Marchand and Richard Deitsch, The Athletic
Date: April 27
The NBA's preference is to have just three rights holders, according to reporting from Marchand and Deitsch. With ESPN/ABC and Amazon Prime nearing agreements, there is likely just one more deal to be done.
With NBC looking to strike a rights deal, there could be a bidding situation between the network and TNT Sports, though there is also an outside chance that the NBA agrees to have four partners.
MORE: Complete list of winners for NBA's end-of-season awards
Amazon Prime 'has framework deal' with NBA for broadcast rights
Source: Andrew Marchand, The Athletic
Date: April 26
Amazon Prime and the NBA have reached a framework of a deal that would make the streaming service "one of the main homes" of NBA games, according to Marchand. Prime Video is expected to air games during the NBA regular season and postseason in a deal that could span a decade.
ESPN/ABC 'essentially' agree to new media rights package
Source: John Ourand, PUCK
Date: April 25
ESPN and ABC have “essentially come to terms on a package” with the NBA, according to Ourand. The terms of the deal would allow the network to remain the home of the NBA Finals, which have aired on ABC since 2003.
