With NBC securing the NBA's television rights again, the fan-favorite "Roundball Rock" theme song could make a return.
NBCUniversal reportedly offered the NBA $2.5 billion per year to acquire the rights it lost to Disney over 20 years ago, according to The Wall Street Journal. That deal is supposedly double Warner Bros. Discovery's reported $1.2 billion offer.
The league announced that Warner Bros. Discovery did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video's offer, paving the way for a "long-term arrangement with Amazon."
With NBCUniversal winning the bidding war, NBA fans will surely be sad about losing TNT's "Inside the NBA," but the silver lining would be the return of "Roundball Rock," everyone's favorite NBA theme song.
MORE: Why NBA left TNT to go back to NBC
Will NBC bring back 'Roundball Rock?'
John Tesh, the creator of "Roundball Rock," confirmed the theme song's return if and when NBC secured an agreement with the NBA's new television rights.
"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," Tesh told the "Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz" on May 21.
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
He also mentioned that NBC plans to use his theme song for the Olympics in Paris, too.
"Roundball Rock" has not taken fans into an NBA game since 2002.
The rights to the theme song were acquired by Fox Sports to be used for college basketball during the 2018-19 season, but the deal "doesn't preclude any media company from using the song for NBA games," Tesh told CNBC in an interview back in April.
With the NBA on NBC's return on the horizon, so is everyone's favorite basketball theme song.
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Who wrote 'Roundball Rock?'
John Tesh is the author — and owner — of "Roundball Rock," the former NBA on NBC theme song.
Around 15 years ago, Tesh told one of his concert audiences the story of how the song came together. He was sitting in a hotel room and did not have access to a piano, so he had to call his at-home answering machine and leave himself a reminder message, trying to mimic the tune with his voice.
As a result, the world-famous NBA tune was born.
Tesh told CNBC that he could not reveal how much he was paid (or will be paid) for the song because of a non-disclosure agreement, but he did note that he is compensated with royalties based on the song's number of plays.
The song has since become a staple of NBA culture, and its popularity has transcended sports. Even "Saturday Night Live" did an entire skit with the song that resurfaces every year around the NBA Playoffs.
