NBA‘s New Broadcast Deal Presents Scheduling Challenges, Potential Impact to Regional Sports Networks
NEW YORK - September 25, 2024 – The NBA’s recently finalized media rights agreements, distributing games across a wider array of platforms, will require a period of adjustment for both the league and its fans, according to NBA Executive Vice President David Li. The sweeping deal, encompassing both the NBA and WNBA, marks a significant shift in how games are broadcast, moving from two partners and three networks to three partners and five.
The new agreements, detailed in a SportsMediaWatch report, will see games aired on ABC, ESPN, NBC, TNT, and streaming services like amazon Prime Video. while expanding access, the increase in national television games – roughly a 45% jump – will inevitably lead to “a slight reduction in the number of games that are available for local broadcast,” Li conceded.
This shift has raised concerns about the viability of Regional Sports Networks (RSNs). Knicks owner Jim Dolan, who also owns the MSG RSN, expressed this concern in a letter to the league last year, warning the new deal risked “rendering the entire RSN model unviable” due to the increased national coverage.
despite the expanded national presence, some exclusivity will remain. ABC games and NBC’s opening Night doubleheader and Sunday night package will continue to be broadcast exclusively. However, a departure from tradition, NBC’s weekly Tuesday “Coast to Coast” games and Martin Luther King Day slate will be non-exclusive, a rarity for NBA games on broadcast television.
The WNBA is also impacted by the new media landscape. Unlike the NBA deal,the WNBA’s agreement with NBC included games on USA Network,which is being spun off into a new venture called Versant. The league is currently “freshening up the deal terms” with an expected completion date before the start of next season. The WNBA Finals will also rotate control, with NBCU holding rights for next year’s best-of-seven series, and the split between NBCU and Versant still being finalized.
Li acknowledged the complexity of scheduling games across the expanded network roster. ”It was much more challenging, probably two or three times harder, just because when your managing three partners, five networks, [that’s] just way more national TV games.”
Balancing national broadcast demands with team schedules and travel logistics proved especially difficult. “We have to consider the team schedules…We can’t make team travel and the team schedule cadences too onerous,” Li explained. ”We’ll definitely learn from this first season,and then I’m sure we’ll try to improve for future seasons as well.”
The NBA’s move towards a wider distribution model mirrors trends across other major sports leagues. Major League Baseball coudl have as many as five partners and seven networks next season,and the NFL is now broadcasting games on FOX,NBC,CBS,ESPN,ABC,Netflix,YouTube,and NFL Network. This broader dispersal of game inventory is becoming the new norm in the evolving sports media landscape.