NBCUniversal expects to finalize an 11-year rights deal that will bring the NBA to NBC and Peacock over 11 years and will change the broadcast network’s schedule.
“We will soon have an 11-year rights deal,” said Mike Cavanagh, president of NBCU parent company Comcast, in comments made during a conference call with investors on Tuesday. He added, “We expect the deal to be awarded,” noting that the company did not believe that Warner Bros.’ recent efforts. Discovery asserting its right to fulfill the terms of an agreement between the NBA and Amazon will have a major impact on the current deal structure.
The new package, effective for the 2025-2026 season, includes 100 NBA games during each regular season for NBC and Peacock. That, Cavanagh said, would include more games “than any other media partner and more regular season games than any existing partner has under the current rights agreement.” NBC would air NBA games on Sundays after the end of “Sunday Night Football” and also on Tuesdays, according to a person familiar with recent discussions. The company’s Peacock streaming service would show two games every Monday.
Comcast executives portrayed the new NBA deal as a catalyst to boost subscriptions to the streaming service. “One of our real advantages here is the way we run the media business,” with Peacock and NBC operating under the same roof, said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. “All of that together is very attractive for the reach, for the consumer access and for the innovation that we will have in the coming years.”
NBCUniversal is expected to pay $2.5 billion a year for NBA rights, according to people familiar with recent discussions. That total would be more than the NFL pays for the current package, according to research from media analytics firm MoffettNathanson. Walt Disney’s ESPN and Amazon Prime Video are also expected to unveil rights deals with the basketball league
Comcast appeared to pour cold water on the main barrier to completing the new agreements. Warner Bros. Discovery said Monday it had notified the NBA that it intended to assert what it believes are rights to satisfy the terms of any offers from new potential rights holders.
Warner has worked with the NBA for decades, but in recent months the relationship has grown tense as the company, now merged with the former Discovery Communications and under new management, has focused on cost cutting. Charles Barkley, the popular co-host of “Inside the NBA” on TNT, indicated he planned to retire after next season.
Additional elements of NBC’s NBA package would include airing the annual NBA All-Star Game each season. a season-opening “NBA Tip-Off” doubleheader each season and a doubleheader on Martin Luther King Day. Select NBA games and the All-Star Game would also be shown on NBCU’s Telemundo.
NBCU’s pact with the NBA also includes rights to more than 50 WNBA regular-season and first-round playoff games, starting in 2026. The games will be shown on Peacock, NBC and USA.