Last year, the NBA signed a new 11-year, $77-billion media rights deal that will make the league a lot richer and dramatically alter the tune-in habits of fans when the 2025-26 season tips off this week.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s cable network TNT will no longer carry the league’s games, but its iconic studio show “Inside the NBA” lives on at ESPN.
More games will air exclusively on streaming platforms than ever before as Amazon Prime Video and NBCUniversal’s Peacock have significant packages in the new deal.
Here’s what you need to know before the action begins.
“Roundball Rock” returns
NBC is back in the NBA business after 23 years, carrying up to 100 regular season games on the broadcast network and its Peacock streaming platform. The network will carry a prime time game Tuesdays starting this week and Sundays as of Feb. 1. NBCUniversal’s Telemundo will carry 12 of the Sunday night NBA games in Spanish. Peacock will exclusively stream up to three games nationally Mondays.
NBC is also the new home for the NBA’s All-Star weekend, set for February in Los Angeles.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in an interview that the league’s move to NBC is more of a homecoming than a transition.
“A lot of the DNA is still in place,” Silver said. “Many of the producers we worked with 20-plus years ago are still with the organization. In some ways we’re able to pick up where we left off.”
The network is leaning into its heritage as the home of the league from 1990 to 2002, when Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six championships, galvanizing fan interest to new heights. Even John Tesh’s “Roundball Rock” — the infectious percussive theme song used during the era — is returning.
Jordan has been hired as a special contributor, but the network has played it close to the vest about how the NBA legend will be used.
“You will see him on opening night in some capacity,” NBC Sports President Rick Cordella told The Times.
Western Conference fans should appreciate NBC’s approach to its “Coast 2 Coast Tuesday” telecasts starting Oct. 28. In most weeks, NBC TV stations in the Western and Mountain time zones will get their own games in prime time at 8 p.m., rather than a 5 p.m. start time for an East Coast contest.
Cordella noted that having having separate prime time games in two regions will help boost ratings as more people will be available to watch in those hours. Fans across the country will be able to stream both games on Peacock no matter where they live.
A new home for ‘Inside the NBA’
ESPN retained its package of regular season games, playoffs and the NBA Finals. But the most anticipated element of its coverage this season will be the arrival of “Inside the NBA,” airing before and after selected games on ESPN and ABC.
When TNT lost the rights to the NBA, fans of the unfiltered gabfest with Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith were despondent over the possibility of its demise after 36 years. ESPN reached an agreement with TNT to continue producing the program in exchange for a package of college football games.
Starting with a doubleheader Tuesday, “Inside the NBA” will air for an hour before selected games on ESPN and a half-hour ahead of ABC telecasts.
Postgame editions will be open-ended on ESPN while ABC will run a half-hour and then continue on the ESPN app. The program will air on 20 dates during the regular season and throughout the NBA Playoffs, including the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.
Tim Corrigan, senior vice president of sports production for ESPN, said in a recent news conference that nothing will change on the program outside of it being on a new network. Along with the hosts, the graphics, the music and the attitude will remain the same and will still be produced at TNT Sports’ studios in Atlanta with its longtime production team.
“We want them to do their show,” Corrigan said.
All of the games on ESPN and ABC are available on ESPN’s recently launched direct-to-consumer streaming service available to fans who don’t have a pay TV subscription.
NBA comes to Prime Video
Amazon is the new kid on the block, with 67 NBA games exclusively on the Prime Video streaming platform starting with a doubleheader Friday.
The streamer will carry every game in the knockout round of the Emirates NBA Cup, the postseason SoFi Play-In Tournament and first- and second-round playoff games. Prime will also carry two international NBA games this year and handle the conference finals in six of the next 11 seasons.
Prime developed a number of on-screen features for its “Thursday Night Football” coverage, and viewers can expect the same for the NBA, where fans can access pivotal moments in the game or get a rapid recap if they tune in late.
Fans who subscribe to NBA League Pass, a streaming platform that provides access to out-of-market games, can link the service to Prime Video to watch multiple games at once on the same screen.
Prime Video is also teaming with the online sportsbook app FanDuel, giving bettors the ability to track the progress of their wagers while watching a game. (FanDuel is not available to use in California.)
The post The new NBA TV deal begins Tuesday. Where are my games? appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
