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NBC Sports hopes to bring back the NBA, sources say

Y2kTheNewOldies

Y2kTheNewOldies

www.cnbc.com

NBC Sports hopes to bring back the NBA, sources say

NBC Sports wants to bring back the "NBA on NBC" after letting rights go more than 20 years ago, sources say.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com


If this deal is approved then NBC could end up getting national broadcasts for the NBA since the 2002 NBA Finals. Note NBC Currently has a deal with the NBA but it's for local rights for NBC Sports Regional like NBC Sports California, NBC Sports Bay Area.




If NBC Sports get national rights it would look like what NBC Sports regional is using today.
 
NBC had them during the last part of their Golden Age, with Michael Jordan as The Man. Since LeBron is to ESPN as MJ was to NBC, I don't think The Mickey Mouse Outfit will give it up until His Majesty retires.
 
Iger may have raised an eyebrow with comments about being more selective in sports rights. But that doesn't translate into letting the NBA slip away. There are other ways they can trim costs and put the money where it has the most impact.

Sure, someone can try to outbid them. Will it work? I wouldn't bank on any specific outcome in today's world.
 
Said it in another thread, but I see this as more of a Peacock move than an NBC move. Now that there won't be a free Peacock after June, not even for Comcast subscribers, NBC needs to acquire sports content that will make people pay for subscriptions.
 
KeithE4 said:
NBC had them during the last part of their Golden Age, with Michael Jordan as The Man. Since LeBron is to ESPN as MJ was to NBC, I don't think The Mickey Mouse Outfit will give it up until His Majesty retires.
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Interestingly NBC Sports is the flagship network for the Golden Age of the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics when it's the local edition of NBA on NBC in this recent edition.

NBC Sports Bay Area have been covering Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson like it's this era's Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. In the event NBC Sports does get the NBA on NBC it will be interesting to see who the announcers are going to be.

First set of candidates would be announcers of NBA on NBC Sports regional like Bob Fitzgerald and Kellena Azibuike (Warriors Announcers), possible Bally Sports Announcers moving to national level NBA announcers.
 
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Y2kTheNewOldies said:
Interestingly NBC Sports is the flagship network for the Golden Age of the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics when it's the local edition of NBA on NBC in this recent edition.

NBC Sports Bay Area have been covering Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson like it's this era's Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.
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The Celtics are pretty much the only reason to ever watch NBC Sports Boston. The Bruins and Red Sox are on NESN and with Boston being a dismal college sports market, any college sports on the channel are basically filler programming.
 
Joey1986 said:
I Googled the theme, and found that it’s called “Roundball Rock,” composed by John Tesh.

Since 2018, it’s been used for the Fox College Hoops broadcasts on Fox, FS1, and FS2. So if you tune to one of those games, you’ll here it there.
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Interesting, thanks for the info!

 
Saladressing said:
If it went back to NBC, it'd be worth it just to hear the theme again lol

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We wish but not likely at this point given that Roundball Rock is now on Fox for college basketball. The best thing NBC Sports could do is use the Regional edition of NBA on NBC Sports theme and make it national.



Basically if NBC Sports and Peacock signed the national contract for the NBA they would have to redo their current stuff by removing local team references for a nationwide audience.

 
KeithE4 said:
NBC had them during the last part of their Golden Age, with Michael Jordan as The Man. Since LeBron is to ESPN as MJ was to NBC, I don't think The Mickey Mouse Outfit will give it up until His Majesty retires.
Click to expand...
I can see a possibility for both ESPN and NBC to have the NBA. Warner-Bros. Discovery is swimming in debt, and Amazon and Apple both are after the rights as well. I could see a scenario where ESPN keeps NBA, NBC gets NBA and both split playoffs, NBA Finals, All-Star Game, etc; Peacock gets a package along with Amazon or Apple. The real wild card is Warner Bros.-Discovery.
 
oldvnewschool said:
I can see a possibility for both ESPN and NBC to have the NBA. Warner-Bros. Discovery is swimming in debt, and Amazon and Apple both are after the rights as well. I could see a scenario where ESPN keeps NBA, NBC gets NBA and both split playoffs, NBA Finals, All-Star Game, etc; Peacock gets a package along with Amazon or Apple. The real wild card is Warner Bros.-Discovery.
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WBD will make a bid but not go over. I can see NBC making a strong push to get it back. Will ESPN want to give up the finals on ABC.
 
CBS won't get the NBA due to their heavy commitment to the NFL, college basketball and golf.

Fox would have scheduling problems due to the NFL and NASCAR.

I could see a wild card: NBC/Universal getting all national NBA rights but put the whole package, including playoffs and the NBA Finals, on Peacock.

On the one hand, it could bolster the Peacock streaming service.

But on the other hand, there might be an outcry over an entire league's national TV schedule being streaming-exclusive without any nationally televised games on broadcast or cable television.

Even if the current national NBA rightsholders renew, could Disney move the NBA Finals from ABC to ESPN in an attempt to slow down cord-cutting?
 
Joseph_Gallant said:
I could see a wild card: NBC/Universal getting all national NBA rights but put the whole package, including playoffs and the NBA Finals, on Peacock.

On the one hand, it could bolster the Peacock streaming service.

But on the other hand, there might be an outcry over an entire league's national TV schedule being streaming-exclusive without any nationally televised games on broadcast or cable television.
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Out of sight, out of mind. Not gonna happen, at least not for several years down the road.
Joseph_Gallant said:
Even if the current national NBA rightsholders renew, could Disney move the NBA Finals from ABC to ESPN in an attempt to slow down cord-cutting?
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They could, but I don't think they will.
 
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