• Loading stock data...
Friday, October 24, 2025

Silver Says Free Highlights Are an Issue As NBA Begins $77B Deal

The NBA commissioner said that the league faces issues with free content across social media, referring to basketball as a “highlight-based sport.” 

Feb 15, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaks in a press conference during All Star Saturday Night ahead of the 2025 NBA All Star Game at Chase Center.
Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The NBA has faced criticism over its national broadcast schedule this upcoming season, the first under a new media-rights deal

While the league has added 75 more national games for the 2025–26 season, additional broadcast partners have made it more complicated—and expensive—for fans to watch all of the league’s national games. 

At a press conference following Wednesday’s NBA Board of Governors meeting, commissioner Adam Silver was asked how much he considers the high barrier to entry to watch games as it applies to the next generation of NBA fans.

Silver said that the league thinks “a lot about it.”

“We know we have mass appeal on a global basis. We’re literally reaching billions of people and we don’t want to disenfranchise people by working with partners that are creating price points that make it inaccessible to them,” Silver said in response to The New York Times

The Times published a guest essay by former ESPN writer Joon Lee in June entitled “$4,785. That’s How Much It Costs to Be a Sports Fan Now.” The story calculated the costs needed for fans to follow their favorite team—including subscriptions, merchandise, and tickets.

Silver said he views sports consumption differently because “most people can only consume so many games.” However, he also said that the league has to weigh its partnerships alongside the “ongoing issue” of fans consuming NBA content for free on social media platforms. He referred to basketball as a “highlights-based sport.”

“Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, you name it … there’s an enormous amount of content out there,” Silver said.

Silver’s comments are striking given the NBA’s embrace of social media as an avenue for fans to consume its content. The league achieved a record 124 billion views on social platforms in the 2024–25 season, up 67% from the previous year, according to Videocites. 

However, monetizing social media engagement is more complicated than linear television and streaming viewership. The league’s 11-year, $77 billion media deal, which starts this upcoming season, is worth about 2.6 times as much annually as its previous deal even as ratings have been stagnant, or even dipped slightly

The NBA will air national games through three domestic partners: ESPN, NBCUniversal, and Amazon Prime Video. Games will be on over-the-air networks through ABC and NBC, on cable TV via ESPN, and on streaming through Peacock and Prime Video. ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming product will also include games from that network.

The league’s first exclusively streamed games will start this season, including weekly games (Mondays on Peacock and Thursdays on Prime Video). 

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Rozier

Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups Will Fight Gambling Cases

Both disputed prosecutors’ versions of events Thursday night.
Oct 21, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) keeps the ball away from Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) during the second half at Paycom Center

NBA’s NBC Return Draws 5.9M Viewers, Best Opener Since 2010

Thunder vs. Rockets peaked at 7.1 million viewers.
Brian Windhorst

Brian Windhorst Details Emergency Landing on Omaha–L.A. Flight

The pilots and flight attendants had a communication issue.
Malik Beasley

After NBA Gambling Arrests, Where Does Malik Beasley Stand?

Beasley was in line to receive a three-year deal from the Pistons.

Featured Today

Christie's

Lou Gehrig’s $4M Jersey and the Exploding Sports Memorabilia Market

An ultra-rare sports collection is about to hit the auction block.
@chef__tezz/Instagram
October 19, 2025

Inside the NFL’s Private Chef Network

Private chefs are the unsung architects of player performance.
October 18, 2025

How Vanderbilt Went From SEC Doormat to Dark Horse CFP Candidate

After beating LSU, Clark Lea said: “Internally, we expect to win.”
May 27, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell (9) shoots a three point basket over New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) during the third quarter of game four of the eastern conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
October 18, 2025

NBA Stars Swap Wine With League Friends and Foes

A wine-exchange tradition emerged from the bubble season’s close quarters.

Underdog Blue Jays vs. Dodgers’ Mega-Payroll on MLB’s Global Stage

The high-profile matchup caps what has been a breakthrough season for the league.
October 23, 2025

Gambling Issues Dogged Adam Silver’s NBA Before Latest Scandal

Silver vocally backed legalized sports betting in 2014.
Jun 18, 2022; Washington, DC, USA; Grammy award-winning artist Pharrell Williams performs at the Sun Stage during the Something in the Water festival on Saturday, June 18, 2022 in Washington, DC.
October 23, 2025

MLB Will Try to Turn the World Series Into More Than Just..

The league has planned a series of showcase music performances in Toronto.
Sponsored

How HOKA is Reimagining the NIL Relationship

Fans can now follow their favorite golfers and experience every marquee moment at the Ryder Cup — thanks to innovation from T-Mobile.
October 23, 2025

Raptors, Leafs Shift Games to Make Way for Blue Jays’ World Series..

The Maple Leafs and Raptors adjust game times during the World Series.
October 23, 2025

As the NFL, NBA, and NHL Go Global, The Masters Is Looking..

The tournament’s chairman touted new qualification measures.
Adam Silver
October 22, 2025

Adam Silver Kicks Off Another Cycle of WNBA Labor Tension

The CBA expires next week.
Tony Parker
October 22, 2025

NBA Wants to Launch European League in ‘Next Two Years’

The league is eyeing 10–12 cities for its European venture.