“Every streaming service and media company has come to believe that the crown jewel is live sports,” Suh said. “That continues to drive ratings, and people understand that this is still appointment viewing.”
In a year that’s already seen Roku make a foray into Major League Baseball and Netflix lay claim to NFL Christmas Day games, Suh isn’t surprised to see NBC and Amazon make such a strong play for the NBA—at a reported cost of $4.3 billion per year combined. Warner Bros. Discovery entered 2024 with roughly $45 billion in debt, while Suh notes that Amazon would enter the NBA deal with diverse revenue streams and a Prime Video segment that still accounts for a relatively small percentage of Amazon’s overall business.
NBC, meanwhile, committed to its Peacock streaming platform as a premium showcase for sports content: Airing Peacock-exclusive English Premier League, NFL and college basketball games (even Caitlin Clark’s NCAA record-breaker). All of this year’s Paris Olympics will stream on Peacock, with NBC confidently raising the price of its premium tier just ahead of the proceedings. Within the reported NBA deal, NBC would air 50% of games on its network and 50% on Peacock.
Even ESPN’s bundled sports partnership with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery—the newly announced Venu Sports—is a testament to diversifying the sports portfolio. If WBD does lose all rights to the NBA, ESPN will still offer coverage while all partners can fill gaps with other sports. As Suh pointed to the rise in streaming services and paid services—”everyone has released one or put a ‘plus’ on something”—he noted that the value of sports media rights deals will only rise during the next decade as viewers churn through services and eventually settle on a handful with the sports they follow.
“If you don’t have any must-watch content, you’re going to struggle to get distribution and advertising revenue,” Suh said. “From a streaming platform perspective, now is the right time to invest because there are so many competitors out there—if you can stand out with content and drive audience, you can drive advertising revenue.”
Making fans out of brands
NBA media rights come with advertisers already sold on the league’s selling power.