ESPN, NBC, Amazon land NBA media rights deal; TNT threatens to sue

The NBA will have new partners for the 2025-26 season with ESPN remaining as the host of the NBA Finals but with NBC and Amazon gaining rights. This means no TNT, no Inside the NBA, and no Reggie Miller...for now.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Second hour of this program. I'mglad to have you alongside alongside the producer
Cameron Parker. My name is CraigWay. Glad to have you with us
as we continue here on this Thursdayafternoon. We were kind of joking about
how Jerry Jones used the word ambiguitylike six times and that one question there
seemed to be a little bit ofambiguity when we were trying to sift through

(00:25):
the new NBA television contract. ButI got a much clearer definition of it,
so did Cam last night. Soin case you didn't know, three
tiers, as Cam was pointing outyesterday, to this deal, and it's
all done because there was nothing ambiguoussays the NBA in terms of the contract

(00:48):
offer that for the third tier,the rights that were offered up by Prime
Video, by Amazon and Warner BrothersDNT claimed that they had matched it.
The NBA said they did not inall terms. I think Warner Brothers basically
said, we'll see you in courtafter that. We'll see for the moment.

(01:11):
This is how it is. Tierone, the Walt Disney Company ESPN
ABC will distribute a total of eightyNBA regular season games, including more than
twenty games on ABC generally on Saturdaynights with NBA Saturday Primetime and on Sunday
afternoons with NBA Sunday Showcase, andup to sixty games on ESPN generally on

(01:36):
Wednesday nights and on occasion on Fridaynights. ABC and ESPN will continue to
telecast all five NBA games on ChristmasDay. They will also provide exclusive national
coverage of the final day of theregular season, so on that last night
they get all the action in theplayoffs. ABC Slash ESPN will tell itcast

(02:00):
approximately eighteen games in the first tworounds each year in one of the two
conference finals series in ten of theeleven years of the agreement, so that
means there will be one year wherethe conference Finals are split. One series
will be on NBC and one willbe on Amazon. ABC Slash ESPN will
not have the Conference Finals one ofthose years out of eleven, Ten however,

(02:23):
will be televised by ABC Slash ESPN. They will remain the exclusive home
of the NBA Finals, which itis broadcast in two thousand and three,
and all NBA games and events onABC Slash ESPN will be available on the
ESPN's forthcoming direct to consumer service.They will continue to telecasting NBA All Star

(02:46):
Celebrity Game, the NBA Draft,the Draft Lottery, and half of all
of the NBA Summer League games.The platforms will also contribute to distribute a
package of WNBA and G League regularseason and postseason game. Okay, real
quick, you may have mentioned it, but the big many people say the
finals are the biggest thing the air. But ESPN also gets the All Star

(03:08):
Celebrity Game, so I know alot of people are very into watching Kevin
Hart. Yeah, Bludacris go backand forth. That was the tipping point,
right, Okay, Yeah, NBCis like, no missed out on
that. Here's what NBC Slash Peacockwill have. They're going to be the
second tier. They will distribute upto one hundred NBA regular season games per

(03:32):
season. More than half of thegames will air on NBC on Sunday nights
and Tuesday nights. NBC Universal willtelecast the league's opening night double header on
NBC each year, so they getexclusive exclusivity on the Opening Night double header,
and they'll get at least two gameson Mlkday on NBC end or Peacock.

(03:53):
They will stream on Peacock a doubleheader on Monday nights. On Tuesday,
NBA will telegast two games across certainNBA affiliate broadcast station. They will
be the home of the NBA AllStar Game, including the Rising Stars,
the State Farm All Star Saturday Night, the AT and T Slam Dunk,

(04:15):
the Starry Three Point Contest, andthe Kia Skills Challenge, and the All
Star Game. And in the playoffs, NBC and or Peacock will telecast approximately
twenty eight games in the first tworounds. At least half of those games
will be on NBC. They willalso televise one of the two conference finals

(04:35):
in six of the eleven years rotatingwith Amazon, so there's that. Amazon
will distribute sixty six NBA regular seasongames on Prime video, including Thursday night
double headers beginning in January, Fridaynight doubleheaders, select Saturday afternoon games,
at least one game on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and the

(04:58):
quarterfinals, in the semifinals, inthe knockout round of the NBA Cup That's
when I can live without the NBACup. At the end season event,
they will also stream the championship gameof the Emirates NBA Cup as well.
They also will distribute all six ofthe play in tournament games as well,

(05:20):
and then the playoffs. Prime Videowill stream a practically one third of the
first and second rounds every year andwill stream one of the two conference final
series in six of the eleven yearson a rotating basis with NBC Universal beginning
twenty six twenty seven. So there, with no ambiguity, is your NBA

(05:43):
package. It's going to be alot anyway. And if you're a guy
like me who gets the NBA packagefrom direct TV because I like to see
the Mavericks play, you know that'sthe best way to do it. Because
we are in Spurs guy like watchingthe Spurs Spurs, I get all my
regular Bali Sports Southwest. We'll seewhat happens with the Mavericks with their feud

(06:06):
with Bally, and they may begoing their own separate way and doing their
own thing, and but they'll allbe part just like right now, the
Padres, the Diamondbacks trying to rememberwhat the other team is. Rangers were
part of the twelve at least rightor sixteen with comcasts that just got their
ability to watch their games back onComcast networks. Well, that's good.

(06:29):
And the Rangers got their their checkfrom BALI from Diamond Sports Group, which
is owned by Saying Claire Broadcasting,So that's why they're still on BALLY.
But the Podres, the Diamondbacks,and I want to say the Rockies.
I can't remember there's another team thathad that broke away from I think Rockies

(06:53):
Altitude. They're not on altitude ornot, They're not anymore, so maybe
that was it. I don't know. But there's three teams I know are
sure that are broken away and youget them on the Major League Baseball package.
But this is how you know thatthey aren't affiliate a value with the
graphics. Are MLB network graphics Nowthey use these same regional Sports network broadcast

(07:15):
teams like Donald Rossillo still does thePadres, Steve Berthume still does the Diamondbacks,
Drew Goodman still does the Rockies,those guys. But the graphics,
the technical, all the production isdone by the MLB network people. Yeah,
that's how that's done. So andI would imagine it be the same

(07:35):
thing with the NBA even if theMavericks are broken away. The Stars have
already announced they they intend to beall right, but on the NHL Center
Ice package, you'll still be ableto get those telecasts, just not through
ballot. You'll get it through throughtheir deal. All right. Uh.
Coming up next, we shift tofootball. Back to football, we'll talk

(07:56):
about it with Greg Tapper, Managingeditor and Dave campbells Texas Football MAC magazine.
Like we said, you can wina copy of the magazine by reaching
us on the talk back feature,and we'll discuss the just completed coaching schools,
some more elements of the magazine,and the little preview of Class five
A high school football. Will dothat when we continue on Sports Radio AM

(08:16):
thirteen under the zone of the iHeartRadioapp.