Rumors

Mike Vorkunov: The NBA has considered launching a local League Pass, but that likely wouldn’t be until the 2026-27 season at the earliest. It has spoken to Amazon, Apple, YouTube, DAZN, Disney, and Peacock about that idea, and has also considered doing that itself through the NBA App.

bsky.app

The NBA has considered launching a local League Pass, but that likely wouldn’t be until the 2026-27 season at the earliest. It has spoken to Amazon, Apple, YouTube, DAZN, Disney, and Peacock about that idea, and has also considered doing that itself through the NBA App.

New York Times

There is one thing that both the NBA and Disney, which owns ABC, can agree on: a longer series benefits everyone. That’s where the teams, league and networks make money. Every incremental game will make each team, plus the league and players, through their revenue-sharing plan, more money. ABC stands to make even more. Networks sell the ads that air during the playoffs months ahead of time. They estimate the cost of those ads, based on projected ratings. If the ratings for the finals are lower than expected, they will offer make-good commercial time to advertisers. But networks usually only sell ads ahead of time for the first four to five games of a seven-game series, the television executive said. “If you get a Game 7 all the money goes right to the bottom line,” the executive said.

New York Times

While James remains one of the best players in the NBA at his age, McCants argues that the “nostalgia of the storyline” has run its course. “They have to, because the nostalgia of the storyline is depleted,” says McCants of the Lakers moving on from James. “The Disney storyline of father-son, all the points in the world, all that shit is played out. At this point now where we’re looking at, where do the Lakers go after the circus is over? Now that the circus is over, you either have to start over, or you have to bring in new lions and tigers and bears in. They don’t have a pick, they don’t have assets that can be moved that can get quality players. They’re kind of stuck.”

Basketball Insiders

NBA rightsholders, new and old alike, see massive opportunities. Disney, which is staying in business with the NBA even as it sheds some of the games it previously showed, is seen capturing $1.25 billion in annual ad revenue from NBA games, according to Fishman, thanks to its hold over the NBA Finals. NBC could take in $1 billion or more, the analyst has projected, while Amazon might win $750 million. In all, there will be 75 NBA games shown across broadcast TV under the new deal, compared with 15 in the most recent media agreement.

Variety.com

While the Miami Heat has been on the West Coast playing basketball, Jimmy Butler has been in Miami serving his team-issued suspension. But Butler has kept himself busy with workouts at Kaseya Center and time spent at his new coffee shop. Butler, who started his own coffee business called “BIGFACE” during the NBA’s Disney bubble amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, recently opened up his first brick-and-mortar coffee shop in Miami’s Design District. The cafe’s grand opening was held in early December. “It means the world to me, man,” Butler said to the Miami Herald last month after unveiling his first coffee shop. “Because this is only one aspect of my life, and I’m talking about basketball. I want to be able to go into a space and treat it as my home and just be around other coffee lovers, people that love to vacay, love to go to museums, love to take their kids to the park.”

Miami Herald

The Mickey Mouse-themed alt-cast, which featured on ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+ during Wednesday’s Spurs-Knicks matchup, featured animated versions of each team’s players with Disney characters occasionally subbing into the action. At various points, Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns was Goofy, Bridges was Donald Duck and Spurs point guard Chris Paul was Mickey Mouse. Viewers also saw Donald Duck coach the Knicks and Daisy as a sideline reporter next to the pairing of Monica McNutt and Drew Carter. Goofy and Mickey delivered halftime speeches to the Spurs and Knicks, respectively. Aside from the action-packed game, the highlight of the show came during halftime when an animated version of NBA commissioner Adam Silver and gingerbread men judged a dunk contest of Disney characters. Goofy, Donald Duck, Pluto, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse were involved. Minnie won the dunk contest with an acrobatic final dunk that included jumping over a castle.

New York Times

The NBA’s $77 billion decision to divide up its U.S. media rights among Disney’s ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, and Comcast’s NBC Sports has sparked a gold rush for talent. Now, another former NBA superstar is eying a possible media career in 2025: Carmelo Anthony. The former Knicks sharpshooter is “talking to everybody” about possible studio and game analyst jobs, sources tell Front Office Sports.

Front Office Sports

The NBA is battling an early-season ratings slump, but league executives told Business Insider they're confident the slide will be short-lived, as the knockout round of its second in-season tournament tips off on Tuesday night. NBA ratings were down from last year by 17% for nationally televised games and by 8% for local games this season through December 6, according to Nielsen. A few months ago, the NBA locked up an 11-year, $76 billion TV contract with Disney's ESPN, Comcast's NBC, and Amazon.

businessinsider.com

ESPN and Stephen A. Smith are close to hammering out a new contract that will give the popular Disney sports personality potential access to other parts of the Magic Kingdom. The two sides, who have been in negotiations for several months, are said to be hopeful they can reach a deal over the next several weeks, according to a person familiar with the situation. ESPN and Disney have been in talks with Smith to devise a new pact that could involve creating a sort of “first-look” agreement for Smith-backed concepts across Disney’s general-entertainment properties, according to this person and a second familiar with the talks.

Variety.com

The length of the agreement between "Inside the NBA" and Disney is less concrete, with sources saying it may be an indefinite deal that depends on how long the crew of Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith want to keep the show going. The idea of mixing talent such as Stephen A. Smith with Barkley is also undetermined, although the two shows did share sets together at last year’s In-Season Tournament.

Sports Business Journal

Separately, Warner Bros. Discovery struck a deal with Disney to license the TNT show “Inside the NBA” to ESPN and ABC starting next season, according to the people familiar with the matter. The show, which features the former players Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, has an enthusiastic and large following. The show will air throughout the course of the season.

Wall Street Journal

There have been some talks between the sides, which are ongoing, but Tesh is asking for a lot, and NBC Sports isn’t wedded to the theme at all costs, I’m told. Tesh already re-recorded the theme with a symphony orchestra in Nashville earlier this year. Tesh has even considered licensing the song to another media company, according to people familiar with the matter. Still, it's unlikely the NBA's other media partners, Disney and Amazon, could or would want “Roundball," according to people familiar with the matter.

CNBC

With the NBA season set to tip off tomorrow, incumbent media partners Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are seeing strong advertiser interest. Disney/ESPN, whose slate begins Wednesday, said the company is 90% sold for the regular season, while WBD -- with the opening night doubleheader on Tuesday night -- is 95% sold in Q4 NBA inventory.

Sports Business Journal