Is TNT losing NBA rights? Latest news and rumors on TV deal with Amazon, NBC, ESPN and ABC

08/05/2024

Changes are coming to how basketball fans consume the NBA.

The NBA’s broadcast rights deal with ESPN and TNT Sports will end following the 2024-25 season, opening the door for new networks and streaming services to serve as the home for action in the association.

While the end of the current deal is one season away, reports and rumors have surfaced about where the NBA will air over the next decade. Here’s an updated look at what the future of NBA coverage could look like.

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Latest news and rumors on NBA’s TV rights deal

TNT Sports is left ‘fighting’ to retain NBA rights; potential deal worth $2.5B

Source: Andrew Marchand, The Athletic

Date: May 8

In 2022, TNT Sports CEO David Zaslav said “We don’t have to have the NBA,” during an RBC investor conference.

Two years later, Marchand reports that Zaslav and TNT Sports would need to pay a figure of around $2.5 billion to retain the network’s NBA rights deal “for a lesser package than he currently owns,” meaning the network will not cover the breadth that it currently does.

Charles Barkley prepared to walk from TNT Sports if network loses NBA rights

Source: Charles Barkley

Date: May 1

During an interview with 850 ESPN Cleveland, Barkley revealed that he can opt out of his contract with TNT Sports to become a free agent if the network does not remain a home of the NBA.

“I said, ‘If you guys lose the NBA, I want to make sure that I can get out of here.’ So I am actually in a really great position,” Barkley said. “Listen, I love TNT, they’ve been great to me … I wanted to make sure that if we lost the NBA in two years, I could be a free agent.”

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With NBC looming, TNT Sports’ future as the NBA’s rights holder is in jeopardy

Source: Andrew Marchand and Richard Deitsch, The Athletic

Date: April 27

The NBA’s preference is to have just three rights holders, according to reporting from Marchand and Deitsch. With ESPN/ABC and Amazon Prime nearing agreements, there is likely just one more deal to be done.

With NBC looking to strike a rights deal, there could be a bidding situation between the network and TNT Sports, though there is also an outside chance that the NBA agrees to have four partners.

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Amazon Prime ‘has framework deal’ with NBA for broadcast rights

Source: Andrew Marchand, The Athletic

Date: April 26

Amazon Prime and the NBA have reached a framework of a deal that would make the streaming service “one of the main homes” of NBA games, according to Marchand. Prime Video is expected to air games during the NBA regular season and postseason in a deal that could span a decade.

ESPN/ABC ‘essentially’ agree to new media rights package

Source: John Ourand, PUCK

Date: April 25

ESPN and ABC have “essentially come to terms on a package” with the NBA, according to Ourand. The terms of the deal would allow the network to remain the home of the NBA Finals, which have aired on ABC since 2003.