S. Van Gundy: Zion was not behind Pelicans exit

The NBA is nearing completion of a combined 11-year, $76 billion set of deals with Disney, NBC and Amazon. The deals average out to $6.9 billion per season for the NBA, which is more than 2.5 times higher than its existing deals. The NFL recently doubled its fees under its last deal to around $10 billion per year.

An official announcement could still be weeks away as it will need approval from the Board of Governors.

ESPN’s deal is considered the “A” package and they will pay an average of $2.6 billion per year, which is up from $1.5 billion under the current deal. While ESPN will broadcast fewer overall games, they retain both The Finals and a Conference Finals annually. ESPN will be allowed to air games on its direct-to-consumer streaming service expected to launch in 2025.

NBC will pay an averaged of $2.5 billion per year, while Amazon will pay $1.8 billion per year. NBC and Amazon will alternate broadcasting one of the two Conference Finals series. Amazon will also broadcast the In-Season Tournament and Play-In games.

NBC will air around 100 games per season with approximately half airing exclusively on Peacock. Games would air on NBC on Tuesdays and Sundays when there isn’t a conflict with NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”

The global popularity of the NBA was a big motivator for Amazon’s Prime Video.

Warner Bros. Discovery will almost certainly lose their longtime partnership with the NBA. Warner had a chance to commit to a deal at $2.2 billion per year, but sources say they walked away due to their displeasure with the price relative to the value of the package. Warner believed the NBA took too many playoff games and the play-in tournament out of its package to give to Amazon.

When Warner’s exclusive window closed, NBC quickly submitted a $2.5 billion per year bid. NBC tried to get a share of the Finals during their talks with the NBA, but ultimately fell short with ESPN/ABC retaining it exclusively.