Live sport remains the most watched type of content. It is a 'sure thing' not only for linear TV broadcasters. It's well known that sports events are always highly watched by audiences. Streaming platforms are using sports as great content to attract and retain subscribers. Every basketball fan looks forward to the new season of the National Basketball Association (NBA) because it's always a new challenge, a new experience and the excitement that true fans of the sport feed on. The sale of media rights for next year's NBA league is attracting worldwide attention. The current deals with ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), signed in 2014, expire at the end of the 2024-2025 season. With the signing of the new deals, the NBA plans to sell media rights worth three times that amount, or nearly $75 billion.  

The league's high expectations and high media rights sales rates for new seasons are certainly influenced by the league's high profile and the changing overall media landscape in the US. The number of US pay-TV households fell from 100 million in 2016 to 68.5 million in 2022. 113 million households have access to at least one streaming service or platform. This represents over 87% of all US households. As streaming accounts for a third of viewing in the US. Diversifying the types of live sports broadcasts not only increases the attractiveness or competitiveness, but more importantly, the value of media deals.  

It has long been known that the NBA is the second most influential sports league in the US in terms of media coverage. The audience is young, digital and one of the most attractive for all broadcasters and streaming platforms in terms of rights acquisition and advertising. The National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL) and the major college football conferences have all signed long-term deals.

Speculation about the price at which media rights to broadcast NBA games for future seasons will be sold comes as no surprise to me. I’m also not surprised by the predicted high rate of sale for these rights, which will be heavily influenced by the way the league presents the offer.
If there is a sale for this amount, the other leagues and the Conference will have a huge bargaining chip in future negotiations for the sale of their media rights for their next seasons. Their price to broadcasters and streaming platforms is bound to rise.

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