The NBA opened its exclusive media rights negotiations with Disney and Turner on Saturday, a window that runs through April 22, and sources said Friday they believe the three sides entered talks roughly 75% in agreement on a deal based on their preliminary discussions over the past several months.
Those sources expect the Emirates NBA Cup -- formerly known as the In-Season Tournament -- to be bundled into the Disney and Turner packages after there were early expectations a streaming entity such as Apple or Netflix might pursue the entire event or at least the Emirates NBA Cup’s Final Four. Regardless, the sources contend Amazon and, to a lesser extent, Apple will be certain bidders when the exclusive window expires April 22. Amazon is expected to pursue the league’s national streaming rights, while Apple’s "mystery" pursuit -- according to sources -- could be a bid for the SoFi Play-In Tournament or some sort of singular NBA event.
NBC is also expected to gain a portion of the NBA’s linear broadcast package, depending on the Disney and Turner deals. NBA team execs believe a final overall NBA media rights deal will be worth between $60 and $72B -- 2.5 to 3 times larger than its previous arrangement in 2014 -- and that negotiations could wrap up in June or July.
One of the more complex aspects of the deal will be the juxtaposition between Amazon’s expected streaming rights deal and local team broadcasts. Franchises value local rights fees -- even though the Diamond bankruptcy has led to a 16% reduction in fees for the 15 Bally Sports teams this season -- and negotiations after April 22 are expected to formalize how many local broadcasts will be lost to Amazon and whether the deal with Amazon will be lucrative enough to appease individual teams.
