The NBA could have secured more money from its blockbusting media rights deal had it not stayed loyal to existing partners and opened it up to Google and other new media providers, according to Tim Leiweke, the outgoing CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
Disney and Turner have just signed a new nine-year media rights deal with the NBA, extending their current deals.
Disney-owned ESPN and Time Warner-owned Turner are paying out around $22.5B over nine years starting from the '16-17 season, which marks a significant premium on their current deals.
However Leiweke, speaking at Leaders, The Sport Business Summit in London, believes the NBA could have secured more money if the NBA had brought in new media rights partners.
GIVING CREDIT: Leiweke credited Disney and Turner for being astute negotiators as they "didn’t let the NBA out of the exclusive negotiating window." Leiweke: "I think the NBA could have made more money. The NBA did a good job of being loyal to the people that have brought us to where we are at. I think we probably would have seen the new media and the new distribution companies pop up if the NBA got out of that exclusive window. Netflix is a good example of how the world is going to change."
Leiweke was speaking on a panel alongside his brother, Tod Leiweke, the CEO of Tampa Bay Sports & Entertainment.
Tod Leiweke expressed a concern that he hoped the NBA’s media rights deal would not lead to falling numbers attending live basketball games.
He said, "When I think about big deals like that, I hope we never lose sight of the fact that our arenas still need to be filled. I think a large sporting event is iconic and I hope our venues don’t just become broadcasting studios."
The brothers were speaking on a panel session entitled Brothers Talk Business: Pushing Boundaries in the North American Sports Market.
John Reynolds is a writer in London.
