The National Basketball Association (NBA) and three companies: Comcast (owner of NBC), The Walt Disney Company (as majority owner of ESPN) and Amazon Prime Video are near closing a multibillion-dollar deal for the broadcasting rights of the world's top basketball league.
This deal, according to The Wall Street Journal, is valued at approximately $75.9 billion and will last for the next 11 years, starting in the 2025-2026 season.
Of the three companies, the highest amount will be paid by The Walt Disney Company, with a total of $28.6 billion ($2.6 billion per season). If signed, the agreement would allow it to continue broadcasting the NBA Finals on ESPN and would leave its main competitor out of the game, Warner Bros. Discovery, which has broadcast league games for the last four decades on TNT.
Comcast will pay a total sum of $27.5 billion ($2.5 billion per season). The company would televise about 100 games each season on NBC and its streaming service, Peacock.
Finally, Amazon Prime Video, owned by the technology giant of the same name, will also broadcast games, both in the regular season and the playoffs, if its deal with the NBA valued at $19.8 billion dollars ($1.8 billion per season) goes through.
