The NBA’s $76B dollar media rights deal that it struck with various networks and streaming services was lauded as a huge win for the future of the league. Also indicative of the incredibly fortunate financial position the NBA is in as it continues to expand its focus internationally. The NBA officially got in bed with the world of streaming services and many credited the league for being progressive and in tune with the changing habits of its consumers.
While overflowing with cash definitely benefits the commissioner and the owners and the players and the bottom line, Charles Barkley doesn’t think the NBA considered the fans one bit when they cut a deal to air league games on so many different platforms.
Too Many Choices, Too Many Channels
“I think the NBA’s got a big problem,” said Barkley, who is probably focusing on the 60-and-over, less tech-savvy, oldheads such as himself when he makes this statement. “How are regular fans gonna like..Ok, it’s Tuesday… Sometimes the games are going to be on Peacock. It’s not going to be on NBC. I think that’s a huge dilemma for the NBA.”
The new 2025-26 schedule will be difficult for fans to navigate as it features games on ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock and Amazon Prime and the league will air games nationally on each day of the week.
Peacock will host a double-header every week on Monday. NBC airs two regional games each Tuesday. ESPN will have its standard double-header on Wednesday nights while Amazon Prime owns Thursday nights. Amazon will also air double-headers on Friday night with ESPN occasionally picking up games on Friday. ABC will air prime time games on Saturday, per last season, but Amazon Prime will pick up daytime games as well. Games on Sunday will be aired on NBC once Sunday Night Football wraps up in January.
Can’t forget the regional channels in cities such as Atlanta that black out Hawks games and because Bally Sports (now called FanDuel Sports) own the rights. Or New York, where the only place you can catch a Yankees game that’s not airing nationally, is on YES Network.
Fans Will Be Forced To Get NBA League Pass To Avoid Confusion & Save Money
Navigating all of the different streaming services and channels that offer NBA games has definitely become a challenge. And just when you think you’re saving money by eliminating cable, you quickly find out that in order to see all of your favorite teams and games, the amount of money you save from going to all streaming isn’t much at all.
It seems like a big corporate set up. Eventually die-hard hoops fans who don’t want to pay $8 per month for Peacock just to see a random NBA double header of action on a Monday or $20 per month for Prime just to catch the Lakers play the Toronto Raptors on a Thursday night, are going to give in and pay between $110-$160 for NBA League Pass.
In any event, the money is coming back to the league’s treasure chest. The feelings of the fans are becoming less relevant to how ownership makes money.
“Guess what they don’t care,” Simons responded. “They have so much money they’re gonna wipe their tears with cash.”
Charles Barkley Rips NBA For Ignoring Fans While Cashing In $76 Billion Media Deal With Various Platforms: Can Potentially Hurt Viewership
Simmons triggered Barkley with that comment. The 11-time NBA All-Star and co-host of the legendary Inside The NBA on TNT, responded bluntly.
“Bill, I’m so glad you said that. I think it’s a big deal. Because they just took all the money from all three networks. I don’t think they give a sh*t about the fans. And I think this is going to come back to bite them to be honest with you, the thing that’s scary, this deal is for 11 years. People can complain whatever they want. For the next 11 years. They don’t give a shit about the fans. If you find the games fine. Just make sure the check clears,” said the man Shaq affectionately refers to as “Chuck.”
Will Search For NBA Games Across Various Streaming Services & Channels Discourage NBA Viewers?
Barkley is right to an extent. Although NBA commissioner Adam Silver often references the fans when he’s discussing NBA business, as if they are a main motivating factor for every decision that is made. The league and owners have found a way to make more money than they could ever spend, prior to making any money at all off the players, fans, advertising and marketing campaigns or merchandise. Media deal money puts the league in the driver’s seat and anybody who can get a piece of that pie is going to adopt the same mentality that makes fans less and less important. NBA already showed you what it was when it put paper fans and video images of fans in empty stadiums and sold it on TV as the 2020 NBA Finals during COVID Quarantine to a desperate country. The fans watched from home and they kept the cash cow rolling. Still ran commercials. Didn’t have to pay a concession worker or arena employee.
NBA Entering New Era Where Fans Who Were Once Disgruntled With Cable Become Slave To The Streams
In total, NBCUniversal will air “up to 100 games,” per the television coverage plan, with Disney and Amazon Prime airing 80 and 66 games.
You keeping up?
The Emirates NBA Cup quarterfinals, semifinals and championship will exclusively air on Amazon Prime while Christmas Day games will remain on ABC and ESPN. ABC will air a conference final in 10 of 11 years the contract runs through. Disney will air 18 games a year across the first two rounds of the playoffs, while NBCUniversal will get 28 across NBC and Peacock and Amazon will stream one-third of all games.
WNBA games are even harder to find if don’t have the League Pass or Amazon or Ion or CBS Sports network. Sometimes you wonder if the league is trying to make games more difficult to locate and watch or more accessible. It’s hard to tell.
