📈 Amir Zonozi’s Post

Why a $2.2 billion NBA deal was too much for WB Discovery https://lnkd.in/gnnMhb8T In a challenging ad market, TNT would need to more than double its ad revenue to maintain current profits (if there are any) from broadcasting NBA games. Moreover, as cord-cutting shows no signs of abating, Venu Sports would need to be a big success to keep viewership at current levels. WB Discovery may not cover the license fees with ad revenue in the first few years of the deal. Moreover, with the company heavily in debt, waiting three or more years for profits is just not an option.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is on the brink of lucrative media deals with NBCUniversal, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios and The Walt Disney Company/ESPN, potentially bringing in a staggering $76 billion in revenue over 11 years, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. NBCUniversal is set to pay an average of $2.5 billion annually to showcase about 100 games per season, with half airing exclusively on Peacock. Amazon's deal, valued at $1.8 billion, includes regular season and playoff games, an in-season tournament, and "play-in" games. The Walt Disney Company, on the other hand, is expected to pay about $2.6 billion each year to continue broadcasting the NBA Finals, receiving fewer games but expanding coverage to ESPN's forthcoming direct-to-consumer platform. These agreements, encompassing WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) telecasts, are slated to commence post the 2024-2025 season and could hike the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s annual fees to nearly $7 billion, marking a notable 2.5 times increase in average fees. 🏀 📺 💻 📱 #nba #disney #espn #nbcu #peacock #amazonprime #primevideo #mediarights #sportbiz #sportsbusiness #sportsmedia #sponsorships #sportssponsorships #marketing #media #NBAfinals #brandedcontent #ai #mensio #hive

As the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals begin, the league is finalizing a $76 billion, 11-year media deal, solidifying NBCUniversal and Amazon as key players. NBC will pay $2.5 billion annually for about 100 games, and #Amazon's $1.8 billion deal includes regular-season games, the in-season tournament, and "play-in" games. ESPN’s $1.5 billion deal reduces its game count but includes its new streaming service, Venu. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), a long-time #NBA broadcaster, is out for now but hopes to reach a new agreement. Despite CEO David Zaslav's skepticism about #NBCUniversal's spending, WBD reiterated its NBA commitment. Mark Zamuner, president here at Juice Media, believes fragmented media deals benefit content producers and the league, potentially increasing rights fees 2.5 times. He also sees significant growth potential in women’s sports. “To see the value generation of women’s sports and its growing audience—that is greatness to see,” Zamuner said. “Long-term lockups and value generation, especially with consumer choice, offer great upside.” NBA sponsorship revenue rose to $1.5 billion this past season, up 7%. The in-season tournament drew 58 brands, with major sponsorships for future events.  Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gR57WhEB

Smart tempered thoughts below on how it is still VERY early for local broadcasters to declare victory over RSNs in the race for local sports rights; remember, teams will be dealing with massive TV revenue holes that OTA reach alone will not even come close to replicating in the near-term, if ever. The below commentary via John WallStreet & Patrick Crakes lays out one scenario (tiered RSN model); the NBA's upcoming national rights deals - which may now also include some form of local rights - may provide another. https://lnkd.in/gUDRRQYV

The Varsity 1) The NBA's media negotiations are closer to being finalized with ESPN taking the "A" package and Amazon taking the "C" package. The NBA's media committee met Weds to start to paper its new deals. Don’t expect any deal to be announced within the next week, but it looks like NBC’s bid for the "B" package will be papered, leaving WBD to see if it can match or not. 2) What happens to WBD's involvement in Venu (né Spulu) if it loses the NBA? Not much, actually. My sources say there’s almost no chance that Venu would kick out WBD altogether, though the sports streamer is likely to pay less for TNT. 3) Five NFL games I have circled this season, including the Dec. 21 games up against the CFP and the Sept. 6 Friday nighter from Brazil. 4) Wouldn’t it make more sense for Diamond Sports to do a bad deal with Comcast than no deal at all? I'm told that the RSN operator could lose between $60 million and $80 million a year from Comcast’s cliff path strategy alone. 5) A former network researcher: “The narrative that sports ratings are up solely because of the nearly 4-year-old inclusion of out-of-home viewing in TV ratings is going to make my head explode...Sports ratings are up because of streaming being included in TV ratings." -- Plus, sports media executives shouldn’t be surprised that the NFL—which does whatever it wants because it can—went with Netflix for a pair of Christmas Day games. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t peeved about it. https://lnkd.in/entiaK8y

The NBA is about to enter its #streaming era, with a new media rights deal ushering in the league’s first streaming-exclusive games. As some of the most effective live sports programming for advertisers all year, NBA games are second only to the NFL in ad performance. And given recent NFL success with streaming-exclusive games on Amazon and Peacock, advertisers should feel confident that these new formats will drive the business results they are looking for. Major sports leagues will continue to embrace streaming services and meet consumers where they are. But make no mistake – live sports ad engagement on linear #TV is still as strong as ever. I wouldn’t expect the growth of streaming-exclusive live sports games to derail that performance any time soon. Nice recap from Lucas Manfredi in TheWrap. https://lnkd.in/eyUB83qB

🏀 A Unique Opportunity for NBA Broadcasts: Fans Call for “Announcer-Free” Segments! 🏀 During a recent NBA playoff game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic, a technical glitch resulted in two minutes of gameplay without commentary. This unexpected twist offered fans a pure, unfiltered experience of the game, and it turns out, they loved it! Feedback on social media was overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing how this “natural” presentation allowed them to feel more connected to the game, appreciating the raw sounds of the court and the crowd. 🤔 Could this be a game-changer for sports broadcasting? This incident has opened up discussions on how we can enhance fan engagement. Could occasional, intentional “announcer-free” segments be the next step in sports broadcasting? Not only could this provide a unique viewing experience, but it could also cater to the purists who enjoy the game in its most authentic form. Let’s think about innovative ways to integrate this feature into regular broadcasts. Perhaps offering viewers the option to switch between traditional commentary and natural sound could cater to a broader audience and create a more personalized viewing experience. 💡 What do you think? Would you enjoy watching parts of your favorite sports events without commentary? Could this enhance your viewing experience? #NBA #FanEngagement #BroadcastInnovation #SportsMarketing #ClevelandCavaliers #OrlandoMagic

Not often you see these types of rights stay exclusive, so a big win for ESPN. $1.3bn a year is over double the previous deal, however they're securing more rights as a result of the increased number of games in the College Football playoffs. On top of winning exclusivity, they get the option to sub-license games to other platforms to ensure there's minimum wastage/ inefficiency in a deal like this. I still find it baffling that in one minute you're bidding covertly to win a set of top tier live sports rights, and then the next you have to do a deal with those who just beat you rather than with the Rights Owner. They must be some fun negotiations! https://lnkd.in/e3t7_9Fc

Sports on Cable - Too good to be TruTV? 🏀⚾🏈🏎 TruTV which currently airs Impractical Jokers across most of its schedule - is going to shift its focus towards sports programming. New episodes of IJ will air on TBS alongside TruTV in April. With TruTV part of the WBD family launching a sports joint venture with FOX & ESPN, investing more airtime in sports now makes sense. It would also help WBD compete with Fox and ESPN who currently have a wider sports talk show and documentary focus alongside their live sports coverage. Sports are ruling the roost on Linear TV, cable networks increasing sports content is a strategy that has also been utilised by NBCU with the USA network shifting towards sports. The shift to Sports on TRU could also be with an eye on the NBA rights renewal next year, with high levels of interest are being shown by television and digital providers. TNT currently has rights to the NBA

Disney+ stepping into sports in Europe "Disney+ has made its first foray into the European sports market with the acquisition of rights to the UEFA Europa League and Conference League competitions in Sweden and Denmark." "It’s the first time that an international streaming giant has acquired a major sports rights package in the Nordic TV market, though Amazon has recently sublicensed 10% of all Premier League games each season in Sweden and Denmark in an agreement with Viaplay." The Walt Disney Company already has a big investment in sports content around the world, in the Americas through ESPN so its already got a big sports footprint. It's interesting that Disney+ has taken these rights, as there's no ESPN+ in Europe, is Disney looking to build sports into its Disney+ brand? Or, could it be playing the long-game in opening itself up for sports with the intention of ciphoning it off and launching ESPN in Europe eventually? Although, ESPN has little recognition in Europe as a television platform. #livesports #tv #television #livefootball #livetv #football #footballrights #tvindustry #streaming #streamingplatforms #streamingservices #streamingmedia #disneyplus https://lnkd.in/eRM5P6gt