NBC Sports reportedly planning serious bid to reclaim NBA rights
helen89

Cue up the '90s Michael Jordan/Chicago Bulls memories. NBC Sports (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is reportedly planning an aggressive bid to return NBA games to its airwaves after more than 20 years - though Turner (NASDAQ:WBD) and ABC/ESPN (NYSE:DIS) may have more to say about that.
Execs at NBC have informed the NBA of their interest, CNBC reports, though Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Disney (DIS) have exclusive negotiation windows that end in April 2024, and those would have to be waived before any formal talks.
But NBC Sports wants a package that would include playoff games for its broadcast network, while some regular season games could be exclusive to the Peacock streaming service (while the NBA might call for streaming all games to boost reach), according to the report.
Speaking of streaming, Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com (AMZN) are now players on major live-sports rights and have expressed interest in NBA games as well, CNBC said.
While the last exclusive talks window in 2014 expired with simple renewals, the onset of the streaming-sports era suggests there might be packages for more players this time around.
Meanwhile, for years NBA games have been at least partly synonymous with Turner Sports, but WBD CEO David Zaslav said in November "I like the NBA ... But we're going to be very disciplined. We don't have to have the NBA."