• Loading stock data...
Saturday, July 19, 2025

NBA Viewers Like the In-Season Tourney. What About Broadcasters?

  • The NBA In-Season Tournament has provided viewership boosts for broadcast partners.
  • In 2025, the tournament could air on a single broadcaster under new media rights deals.
Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA’s current broadcast partners have to be happy with the inaugural edition of the in-season tournament.

Group-stage games on ESPN and TNT averaged 1.5 million viewers — a 26% increase from last season’s comparable windows — while local telecasts saw a similar 20% boost.

Next season, those media entities will hope for more of the same. But as the tournament grows, the viewership benefits might be seen elsewhere.

The NBA will explore selling in-season tournament games as their own broadcast package during the next set of media rights deals. The current ones will expire following the 2024-25 season. Potential bidders have been said to include Netflix, though with varying assessments of the streamer’s actual interest. Meanwhile, Amazon isn’t being shy about wanting to acquire at least some NBA rights.

Selling the in-season tournament to a single broadcaster would be an easy way for the NBA to bring on a new media partner and likely boost its overall rights fee intake, similar to NASCAR’s new deals, which include small midseason packages with Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery.

But that scenario could prevent some novel broadcast mashups.

On Thursday, ESPN and TNT are each airing one of the two semifinal games, and the networks are collaborating on crossover coverage, implementing each other’s on-air personalities.

“This is the first step in something that potentially could create other opportunities [in] the future,” TNT Sports executive vice president and chief content officer Craig Barry said to Front Office Sports. David Roberts, ESPN’s head of event studio production, echoed that sentiment: “This is just a starting point.”.

Next April, after an exclusive negotiating period with Disney and WBD, the NBA’s full set of media rights will be open for bidding — the in-season tournament included.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

WNBA Stars Say Zero Progress Made at CBA Meeting

The WNBA and its union had their first in-person meeting Thursday.

Michael Jordan’s NASCAR Team Loses Another Legal Battle

23XI Racing has lost its Cup Series charter status for the time being.

Unrivaled Founder Says Growing League Has ‘No Conflict’ With WNBA

Alex Bazzell co-founded Unrivaled with Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.

Featured Today

Ryan Field Construction
exclusive

First Look Inside Northwestern’s $862 Million New Ryan Field

Five big things FOS learned on our exclusive stadium tour.
Jul 21, 2024; Ayrshire, SCT; Xander Schauffele celebrates with Claret Jug after winning the Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Troon.
July 17, 2025

The Boozy History and Traditions of The Open’s Claret Jug

The Open awards the world’s most famous wine decanter.
2025 PDC World Darts Championship Final - Luke Littler vs Michael Van Gerwen
July 16, 2025

A Teen Darts Prodigy Is Becoming Bigger Than the Game Itself

Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler is cashing in on his devastatingly accurate shot.
May 31, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Sydney McLaughin-Levrone (USA) reacts before the women's 100m hurdles during the Grand Slam Track Philadelphia at Franklin Field
exclusive
July 13, 2025

Track’s New Money Is Running Into Old Problems

The sport’s big-money era has hit some speed bumps in 2025.

Netflix Beats Projections Again—and Plots Big Holiday Sports Slate

The streaming giant again beats analyst projections in every respect.
Jul 15, 2025; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; National League designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a home run in the swing off of after the 2025 MLB All Star Game ended in a tie at Truist Park.
July 16, 2025

MLB All-Star Game Viewership Dips Despite Historic Swing-Off

Game viewership falls 3% despite late dramatics in the unique tiebreaker.
July 17, 2025

ESPN Bidding Against NBC, Apple for MLB Rights Package

The league continues to negotiate with multiple media-rights bidders.
Sponsored

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

Dealmaker Jeffrey Kaplan maps the evolution of sports as an asset class
July 15, 2025

MLB Home Run Derby Draws 5.7M Viewers on ESPN, Up 5%

ESPN reverses the trend from last year and registers audience growth.
July 15, 2025

WNBA Hits Fourth-Highest ABC Viewership With Clark-Bueckers Duel

Clark missed the first Fever vs. Wings game with an injury.
Brittney Griner and Caitlin Clark
exclusive
July 15, 2025

‘Good Morning America’ Will Air From WNBA All-Star in First

The All-Star Game’s relevance has exploded with the league in recent years.
NBC Sports
exclusive
July 14, 2025

NBC Hiring Ex-Hawks Exec Grant Liffmann As NBA Front Office Insider

Liffmann spent the last three years with Atlanta after covering the Warriors.