NBC 'ready to pay $2.5bn-a-year to snatch NBA TV rights away from TNT' - more than DOUBLE average fee paid by Warner Bros - as league enters 'advanced stages' of new round of media-rights deals

Comcast NBCUniversal is preparing an offer of $2.5billion per year to snatch television rights for the NBA away from TNT - more than double the fee paid by the latter's parent company, Warner Bros.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Warner is 'staying disciplined in its approach to a new deal' and has paid an average fee of $1.2bn per year under its current contract with the league. 

However, the network was unable to reach a new pact with the NBA before an exclusive negotiating window expired last week.

Warner began airing the games in 1984, while Walt Disney's ESPN sports network began broadcasting the NBA in 2002.

Disney is expected to pay an average per-year fee of around $2.6bn to renew its deal, according to the report, an increase from roughly $1.5bn now.

Comcast NBCUniversal is preparing an offer of $2.5billion per year to snatch television rights for the NBA away from TNT

The package NBCUniversal is preparing to bid for would include both playoff and regular-season games

TNT's parent company Warner Bros has been paying less than half of that $2.5bn fee on average under its current terms

Warner's TNT has the ability to potentially match rival offers, people familiar with its pact told the WSJ.

The package NBCUniversal is preparing to bid for would include both playoff and regular-season games broadcast live on the NBC network, along with its Peacock streaming service.

NBC has also discussed airing two prime-time games per week, which Warner is unable to offer given it does not own a broadcast network.

The NBA's discussions with partners for a new round of media-rights deals, which would be for the 2024-25 season onwards, are believed to be in advanced stages.

Every TV partner would broadcast fewer games in a new deal than under the current terms, after the league reduced the number of games from this year’s rights negotiations to create a package for a streaming partner. Amazon's Prime Video is said to have reached the outlines of a streaming rights deal with the NBA.

The league's negotiations are fluid, with the relevant parties still at loggerheads over who gets to air the more high-profile games and series.