The NBA is back in action, and just two weeks into the season, we’ve already got several intriguing storylines. The Phoenix Suns’ big three trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal has largely only been Durant as the other two nurse injuries. Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo look like an unstoppable duo for the Milwaukee Bucks. The Chicago Bulls had a frustrated team meeting one game into the season. Boston fans are already tearing down Jaylen Brown for signing a $300 million contract this offseason and then playing a 30-second sequence where he had two straight turnovers (including a pass to no one in particular) and fouled an opponent shooting and making a three-pointer.
Among the stories you may have missed: Amazon wants a larger piece of the NBA pie. And NBA commissioner Adam Silver is intrigued by the possibility.
Amazon is paying $1 billion per year for “Thursday Night Football” to air on Amazon Prime Video through 2033. It’s been a success so far, averaging 12.9 million viewers per game while also snagging a younger audience than the typical TV viewers. Now, the tech giant is trying to recreate that success for the NBA. Amazon started streaming games in Brazil last season, and it’s looking for more.
Damian Lillard (L) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (John Fisher/Getty Images)
The NBA’s current media rights agreement ends after the 2024-25 season, though negotiations are already going on now. Disney’s ABC/ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT, the league’s current partners, get first dibs on whether they want to continue broadcasting games. They have until early 2024 to make their decisions.
Those decisions will be costlier now. Disney and WBD are paying a combined $24 billion ($2.6 billion per year) to air games. The NBA is seeking more than double that during this round of negotiations, in the neighborhood of $50 billion and $75 billion.
Amazon certainly has money to spend, but so does every other streaming platform. Adam Silver said he’s “fascinated” by what Amazon has done with “Thursday Night Football,” but what if Amazon gets outbid by Apple or Google/YouTube? Netflix has also expressed its desire to showcase more sports content.
NBC is also reportedly interested in getting back into airing basketball games. The league’s “NBA on NBC” aired from 1990 to 2002 and still has the best theme music of any broadcast. Fun fact: That theme, which is officially called “Roundball Rock” was written, produced and recorded by none other than… John Tesh. As he has recounted over the years, the hook for the song came to Tesh in a flash while on a plane. To make sure he did not forget the hook, he called himself from the plane and left a voice message where he recited a rough version from start to finish. Tesh has also claimed over the years that the royalties from “Roundball Rock” are the most lucrative thing he’s ever done in the entertainment world, though we think that’s an embellishment.
It looks like the NBA is primed for an all-out bidding war. That means more money coming into the league — and even higher salaries for players. Before long, we could see a superstar earn half a billion dollars over the duration of a single contract.
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