“ This matter has been made a top priority for The Walt Disney Company. “We easily understand Jimmy Pitaro's remark, ESPN President on The Varsity Podcastwhen it comes to the new TV contract, initialed for a total of 76 billion dollars over 11 years.
As a reminder, this new broadcast agreement will begin in 2025/26. ESPN/ABC will retain the first lot for $2.6 billion per year, with the exclusivity of broadcasting the Finals, a conference final, several prime time games each week, WNBA games and a portion of the international rights.
” I don't think anyone on the NBA side or our side will tell you it's been easy. “, continues the manager, who was already in contact with Adam Silver before these negotiations, which contributed to the mutual trust existing between the two parties.
Confidence in the new generation of players
” I don't want to speak for the league, but we're very, very pleased with this partnership. If you look at the value of our deal, we made it clear from the beginning that the playoffs were very important to us, particularly the NBA Finals. And we told Adam and Bill (Koenig, president of NBA content) that it was very, very important to keep the NBA Finals exclusive for 11 years. »
There have been internal discussions about the aging of the league's stars, but ESPN's boss doesn't foresee LeBron James, Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant retiring anytime soon. The company has also concluded that it has ” great confidence ” in the next generation of NBA stars.
The manager also appreciates the parity within the league and the fact that several teams are likely to win. What will appeal to young audiences?
” Whether it's the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL, the NBA may have the youngest audience. The last time I talked to our research department, they had the youngest audience. I don't know what the exact situation is today, but we appreciate this agreement and this partnership. »
