In-Depth
NBA Season Preview: Starting Five
From its next media rights deal to the new in-season tournament, the NBA is stacked in the season ahead
Free TV
With Diamond’s Bally Sports RSNs in bankruptcy limbo, 15 NBA teams are preparing contingency broadcast plans, while the league’s reigning champions — the Nuggets — still don’t have their games on Denver’s largest cable distributor, Comcast, because it doesn’t carry Altitude. A solution for NBA franchises is becoming free, self-produced, over-the-air networks. Utah has done it with KJZZ and Phoenix has done it with America’s Family Sports, while the Wizards (Monumental), Knicks (MSG) and Rockets (Space City Home Network, in concert with MLB’s Astros) have also spun off their own subscription-based linear and streaming networks. Streaming direct-to-consumer options are back-ended by the league, but free games on linear TV are clearly the future in some markets. “Being independently owned and operated in a market such as Denver, we were the canary in the coal mine for this whole RSN thing,” Nuggets President/Governor Josh Kroenke told SBJ. “We’re looking at everything that the Jazz have done, the Suns have done … We’ve got a few creative concepts: streaming, partnering with other groups. We’re trying. We’ve got few weeks to figure it all out.
International Team Marketing Programs
As part of an expanded initiative to grow the game globally, NBA franchises are now allowed up to 10 international partnerships when previously it was two. Teams such as the Timberwolves just signed a global marketing deal with Caribou Coffee ahead of a preseason trip to Abu Dhabi, and the Spurs are canvassing Europe — and France, in particular — to capitalize on drafting French sensation Victor Wembanyama. The Clippers have a deal with Taiwan’s Starlux Airline, the Magic with Puerto Rico’s Universidad Ana G. Mendez, and the Bulls with London’s Edit LDN. Some league execs believe international marketing is a new bucket they can use to replace any lost local TV revenue from RSN failures. It is believed if a team fills all 10 international partnerships, along with a jersey patch agreement, they could generate $40 million to $50 million, if not more.
In-Season Tournament
If NBA teams were taking a casual approach to the inaugural in-season tournament, the league office was quick to scold them. For instance, each team was asked to design a specific tournament playing court — a challenge to a venue like Crypto.com Arena that houses two teams and now has to store two more courts — but the branding seems worth the trouble. By creating games of consequence every Tuesday and Friday in November (other than election night), skeptics can no longer say the NBA doesn’t truly start until Christmas — and new marketing opportunities are a bonus. The Pelicans became the first franchise to promote the event by staging a $1 million “We Win, You Win” sweepstakes. Teams are also being asked to inform ticket buyers that in-season tournament games count toward the regular season. Not to mention, Milwaukee and Miami are in the same group (the Damian Lillard Bowl), making for must-see TV.
National Media Rights
The elephant in the room is the NBA’s next media rights deal, which expires after the 2024-25 season. Incumbent partners Disney (ESPN) and Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT) — which paid $24 billion for national media rights in 2014 — are in an exclusive negotiating window, and sources say the NBA is in “preliminary high-level discussions” with both. Individual teams, particularly the ones with flimsy RSN deals, are desperately hoping for a “gargantuan” number that can recover lost local TV revenue. Team execs believe tech giants such as Apple (which streams all MLS games) or perhaps Google (NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV) might pay exorbitant numbers if they can stream a certain number of each team’s games and get inside access for added content. At the same time, the NBA has prioritized the reach of broadcast television that ABC and NBC can provide. Plus, traditional media companies like ESPN, WBD and NBC have the direct-to-consumer capabilities to bid for the streaming package(s) as well. Insiders expect the NBA will ultimately sell three packages, which could then send a lot of other wheels in motion, such as league expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle.
Courtside Suites
The Lakers and Warriors are rivals right on down to their premium seating. Golden State, of course, has an unfair advantage because Chase Center came equipped with dozens of built-in bunker suites, where fans can sit courtside or mosey below the court to a private area. That led envious Crypto.com Arena to build four tunnel suites this summer that mirror Golden State’s. It was a conscientious undertaking that includes a private drive-in entrance. But that’s the preeminent challenge for franchises with older arenas. Madison Square Garden had to construct its own event-level suites, and the Washington Wizards this season are introducing a more novel trend: courtside lofts (12 tables of four people and two tables of six) that are just 12 feet from the west basket and include in-game dining.
