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NBA finalizes $76BILLION extension with ESPN and inks deals with NBC and Amazon... but TNT isn't out of the picture yet
The NBA has upped its reach in the broadcast world, inking an extension with ESPN and signing deals with NBA and Amazon over the next 11 years and worth around $76billion.
These moves all come while not completely icing out TNT Sports, with who has exclusive rights to many of the games the NBA has sold away through the end of this season.
For example, the popular In-Season Tournament aired in the United States on TNT and ESPN. Now, those games would move exclusively to Amazon, per The Athletic.
David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros., who owns TNT Sports, has stated his intentions to use language in the current contract to remain aligned with the NBA.
That move would put in danger parts of the framework of the new agreement, mainly targeting Amazon, per the Athletic.
Jayson Tatum and the defending champion Boston Celtics could be on more networks soon
The next step is for the league's governors to approve the deals with NBC and Amazon, as well as the extension with ESPN. There is little doubt those approvals will come.
Once given the go-ahead, TNT has five days to respond before the contracts become ratified.
Should TNT decline to match the NBA's offers with Amazon and NBC, a new deal could be publicly announced before the beginning of the Summer Olympics on July 26.
Many of the league's biggest stars are competing in Paris, with the United States' dozen-player roster made up exclusively of NBAers.
Plans have developed far enough to where game schedules during the NFL season and after the Super Bowl have already begun to take shape, including special Saturday night telecasts during football season.
After the NFL season ends, more games with national coverage will be played on Sunday nights, with 'Sunday Night Football' off the air.