As part of a new television contract that will pay the NBA $2.67 billion through the 2024-25 season, ESPN has negotiated a new online, live streaming video package that will show regular season games. The service will reportedly be available to people who aren’t cable or satellite subscribers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
NBA, ESPN agree to framework on new live streaming package
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Gaining the online video rights was an essential part of the deal for ESPN, because the package could have conceivably been sold to a third party. It remains unclear how this will differ from NBA League Pass, the current television and online package that allows NBA fans to watch out of market games for a subscription fee.
ESPN’s parent company, Disney, had been paying $485 million for the TV rights to NBA games in a deal that was set to expire after the 2015-16 season. The new deal will include 750 additional hours of NBA content across ESPN platforms, according to the company’s announcement. ABC will be the exclusive home of the NBA Finals, and fans will be able to stream the Finals on ESPN3 or WatchABC.
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