NBA Media Rights Pitch
The NBA’s current media rights deal ends after the 2024-25 season, and the league expects to increase its current media deal by roughly 200%, from $25 billion to $75 billion over 9 years.
While that final number is far from final, the NBA will definitely see a major bump in media rights fees.
The current partners are Disney/ESPN/ABC and Turner Sports (which is now owned by Warner Brothers.Discovery). But NBC Universal, which owns NBC Sports is reportedly interested in bringing the NBA back into the fold. NBC last aired the NBA in 2002, with the Finals between the Lakers and Nets, after which ESPN and Turner split the national broadcast rights.
Your assignment is to act as NBC Sports and prepare a pitch to the NBA that details why they should grant you rights to NBA broadcasts. Here are things to keep in mind:
What are the assets of NBC Universal/NBC Sports (broadcast, cable, digital/streaming, radio, etc.)
Who are the other competitors by media platform
What is your distribution reach for each property (approximate)
What can you offer that is enticing to the NBA
What are the NBA’s media platforms
What are the NBA’s assets
What are some of the newest things that you could add to your offering that didn’t exist/weren’t legal back in 2002 and 2014 (last NBA media rights negotiation)
Based upon the current media rights deal, and the rumored deal the NBA is seeking, what value would you place on your media rights package?
