• Loading stock data...
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Join us May 14 at 1 p.m. ET for Future of Sports: Leagues of Their Own Register Now
exclusive
Media

Betting Giants Want A Piece of New NBA Media Rights Deal

  • Gambling giants want to create a ‘watch and bet’ environment.
  • ESPN and TNT have split NBA TV rights since 2002.
Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA is expected to start negotiations for its media rights in 2022 for a new deal that would start in 2025 — and expect to see some new players threaten to upend these billion-dollar discussions: sports betting companies.

The latest broadcast contract is projected to be valued at $75 billion total — over $8 billion annually — and gambling giants like FanDuel, DraftKings, and Caesars Sportsbook are expected to make bids for live game rights, sources tell Front Office Sports.

NBA fans would be able to stream live games across a sportsbook’s platform while making in-game wagers, said T.K. Gore, longtime media advisor turned chief revenue officer of real-time streaming technology company Phenix. 

The telecasts could be exclusive or they could be betting-driven alternatives similar to ESPN’s “Daily Wager” telecast last season of a Brooklyn Nets-Philadelphia 76ers game. The betting-focused version aired on ESPN2 and ESPN+ while a traditional broadcast was shown on ESPN.

The sportsbooks would ideally like to create an integrated, live-game environment where fans “watch and bet vs. bet and watch,” said Gore, who sees real-time video delivery of live sports as “critical” for the sports betting ecosystem.

Disney chairman Jimmy Pitaro sounded the alarm about gambling outfits increasingly wanting live sports rights; particularly as younger viewers embrace streaming over traditional cable TV coverage.

“We’re starting to see sports betting companies be interested,” said Pitaro during an interview with the Paley Media Council on Oct. 7. “It’s a very different environment. So from an ESPN enterprise perspective, the disruption is coming from all of this new competition.”

“Then if you look through the fan lens, obviously the younger generation is consuming content in very different ways today. They’re often looking for bite-size or snackable content.”

exclusive

Caesars Sportsbook Might Pursue ESPN’s Adam Schefter

Adam Schefter’s contract is up at ESPN next summer. Gambling giants like…
October 13, 2021

Legacy media networks control virtually all TV rights for the five major sports leagues in the U.S.

Expect that to change, as sports betting companies could end up bidding against NBA incumbents Disney’s ABC/ESPN and Turner Sports’ TNT, which have split the league’s U.S. TV package since 2002.

The NBA, which is projecting $10 billion in revenue as the NBA returns to its usual 82-game format schedule this season, pockets $2.6 billion a year from ESPN and TNT under its current deals that extend through the 2024-2025 season.

Still, the biggest leagues prefer to begin TV negotiations a couple of years early to gain maximum negotiating leverage.

Traditional television networks have long worried about deep-pocketed tech giants like Amazon, Google/YouTube, Facebook, and Netflix swiping their sports rights. Not to mention fast-growing Fanatics, which is expanding into sports betting.

Would the NBA take the gamble of placing games on a sports betting platform? Even on a streaming basis?

At first blush, it seems far-fetched, especially with the memory of crooked referee Tim Donaghy still hanging over the league.

ESPN Latest Media Company To Eye Its Own Sportsbook

ESPN is going “all-in” on sports betting, say sources. ESPN is exploring…
June 10, 2021

Then again, the NBA’s Adam Silver has been the most-forward-thinking of the U.S. league commissioners when it comes to the potential of sports betting. The league has proactively integrated gambling into games with betting-driven telecasts on ESPN2 and NBABet Stream via NBA TV and NBA League Pass.

The NBA was the first major U.S. league to partner with a sports betting operator in 2018, signing MGM as an official gaming partner. The league has since announced multiple deals with DraftKings, FanDuel, William Hill, PointsBet, Sportradar, and Genius Sports.

The NBA also has a history of innovation when it comes to media rights.

Late commissioner David Stern signed a landmark deal with ESPN and TNT in 2002 to put most of the league’s games on cable rather than broadcast TV. That set off a stampede of leagues and teams moving their games to basic pay cable from broadcast TV.  

With sports betting now legalized in more than half of the U.S., the taboo against gambling is nearly gone. Like the NBA, all of the big sports leagues have signed deals with sports betting operators.

On New Year’s Eve, Barstool Sports will stream the “Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl” across its own platforms. The college football game was previously broadcast on CBS.

Sports Betting Giants Invading Sports Media Space

Sports betting and sports media are converging. FanDuel is on the prowl…
May 5, 2021

Of course, the sportsbooks are just getting their feet wet when it comes to sports rights. 

Pitaro has hinted that these interlopers want a seat at the negotiating table when rights for properties like the English Premier League, Major League Soccer, and Big Ten Conference come up for bid.

“It used to be, when rights came up, we were competing against the traditional media players. Fast forward to today, you’re seeing several new parties and enterprises step up. We saw Amazon acquire rights for Thursday Night [Football],” said Pitaro.

“Pretty much every time we sit down at the table with a rights owner, league or a conference, we’re competing not just against the incumbents, or the traditional media players, we are competing against both the large new media enterprises and also some of the smaller startups.”

The NBA’s 2021-2022 season tips off Tuesday night with TNT’s double-header coverage of the Milwaukee Bucks vs. Brooklyn Nets (7:30 p.m. ET), then Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors (10 p.m. ET).

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Apr 26, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) dribbles the basketball as Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) defends in the third quarter during game three for the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Kaseya Center.

Jared Kushner’s Brother Bought Small Stake in Miami Heat Last Year

Kushner reportedly sold his Grizzlies stake to buy an interest in the Heat.
Curry

Brady, Curry, Ohtani Get Most Claims Dropped in FTX Endorser Suit

The judge did call the endorsers “uninformed, negligent, or even reckless.”
Mar 26, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Actor and filmmaker Spike Lee (l) greets former professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. during the game between the LA Clippers and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

‘Friends of the Garden’: Inside the NBA’s Most Exclusive Celebrity Suite

“Among the titans of industry, deals are done at Suite 200.”

NFL Nears Deal for YouTube Game That Could Break Streaming Records

YouTube closing in on a deal to show a game from Brazil.

Featured Today

Apr 18, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal vs Grand Canyon University Antelopes during the MPSF Men's Volleyball Championship at Galen Center.

‘What Just Happened’: Inside the Abrupt End of Grand Canyon Men’s Volleyball

Inside Grand Canyon’s shocking decision to cut men’s volleyball.
exclusive
May 9, 2025

Shams Charania on Draft, Breaking Dončić Trade, ‘Whirlwind’ ESPN Tenure

Charania will work on his first NBA draft lottery for ESPN on Monday.
Fat Perez reacts after hitting his shot on the 16th tee during the WHOOP Shot at Glory on the 16th hole at TPC in Scottsdale on Feb. 5, 2025.
May 7, 2025

Golf Influencers Are the New Currency for PGA Tour and LIV

YouTube golf is big business. The rival tours are staging formal events.
Feb 8, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson talks with New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11), forward Mikal Bridges (25), and guard Josh Hart (3) during a timeout in the third quarter against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden.
May 6, 2025

Before the Villanova Knicks, There Were the Kentucky Celtics

Three decades ago, Boston tried its own version of the college-teammate experiment.

Caitlin Clark Is Still Must-See TV, Even in the WNBA Preseason

Indiana will have 41 regular-season games nationally televised or streamed.
May 4, 2025

Kentucky Derby Sets Ratings, Betting Records Despite Attendance Dip

The crowd of 147,406 at Churchill Downs was down 6% from last year.
May 5, 2025

NBA Misses a Dynasty Duel—but Gains a Star-Making Moment

The Warriors defeated the Rockets in seven games.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Portfolio Players is our bi-weekly spotlight on the athletes and investors reshaping the business of sports. This week, venture capitalist Kai Cunningham unpacks why athletes land top deals and how the usual investing rules don’t always apply.
Fubo-TV
May 2, 2025

Fubo Loses Subscribers; Focused on Disney Deal Despite Antitrust Probe

The streaming company plans to debut its planned sports bundle this fall.
Jan 9, 2017; Tampa, FL, USA; ESPN president John Skipper during the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers at Raymond James Stadium.
exclusive
May 2, 2025

Former ESPN President John Skipper Leaving Meadowlark Media

Skipper co-founded the company with host Dan Le Batard in 2021.
May 1, 2025

Formula One Courts Bidders As ESPN Exclusivity Laps Out

The motorsports property is in the final year of its ESPN deal.
May 1, 2025

How Larry Collmus Became the Longest-Running Kentucky Derby Caller

Collmus will call his 15th straight Derby on NBC.