While in France, the call for tenders for TV rights to Ligue 1 proved unsuccessful, in the United States, the NBA is preparing to renegotiate its contract with its usual broadcasters, ESPN, ABC and TNT. Nine years ago, these three chains had paid 24 billion dollars over nine years and they have priority in the discussions. Today, there is talk of a contract worth 75 billion dollars, and new players have arrived to compete with the “classic” channels. These are Apple, Facebook and even Amazon.
According to Wall Street Journal, ESPN, ABC and TNT are already negotiating with the NBA, but they have warned that they could broadcast fewer matches than in the previous contract, and that opens the door to alternatives. For Front Office Sports, it is Amazon which should benefit from this, and shake up the situation after its conclusive experience with the rights to the NFL. Jeff Bezos has put a billion dollars on the table to create “Thursday Night Football” until 2033, and no less than 13 million Americans tune in on average every week to Amazon Prime to watch the Thursday night game. .
Attracting Generation Z
Amazon would like to repeat the experience in the NBA with a new weekly meeting, on Tuesday or Thursday. For the NBA, it is the prospect of reaching a much younger audience, the famous generation Z, fed by highlights on TikTok and Netflix.
A recent study revealed that the audience watching the NFL on Amazon is much younger than those watching on CBS, ESPN/ABC, Fox and NBC. And like the NFL, the NBA would be willing to increase the number of broadcasters and platforms to reach as many different targets as possible. The creation of the mid-season tournament could be a “package” offered to a broadcaster.
Besides Amazon, Apple would also be in the running. The American giant has entered the sport with MLS and Lionel Messi, and like Amazon, Apple could position itself on a weekly meeting. Another interested player, Google and its YouTube platform. In the United States, YouTube’s paid offering includes the “Sunday Ticket” which broadcasts all Sunday matches. A Google executive revealed that this offer had allowed the firm to break subscription records. Finally, there is Netflix, which would like to renew its catalog, and slow down the flight of subscribers, by offering live sport.
So many players who could allow the NBA to explode the amount of TV rights, and why not reach the 100 billion dollar mark! This is the amount won by the NFL last year.
