The NBA has reportedly agreed to national broadcast deals with both Disney/ESPN and Amazon Prime. These ten-year contracts will keep the NBA Finals on ABC, and might expand the number of games exclusively available nationally. The reports come from Andrew Marchand at The Athletic and John Ourand at The Puck. The deals are not yet finalized, and both NBC/Peacock and Turner’s TNT (streaming via HBO) are still negotiating on top of the already-completed deal. NBA TV is run by Turner, and its status is also unclear.
If these games are indeed exclusives, this will lead to a dilemma for NBA fans: With the additional fracturing of the viewing market, fans will have to consider how to watch all of their favorite team’s games.