DAZN reportedly ‘close’ to securing local rights for several NBA teams, will overtake MSG and YES streaming

In a major development, London-based streaming platform DAZN will have a major hand in distributing local NBA broadcasts to fans next season.

According to a report by Austin Karp in Sports Business Journal, “DAZN is close to acquiring full exclusive local broadcast rights next season” for five NBA teams formerly under contract with Main Street Sports Group, owner of the now-defunct FanDuel Sports Networks. Those teams are the Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, and Memphis Grizzlies. Additionally, DAZN is close to securing streaming-only arrangements with the Orlando Magic and “possibly” the Charlotte Hornets.

DAZN will also overtake what is now known as the Gotham Sports app, a joint streaming venture between YES Network and MSG Networks that sells access to local broadcasts for seven New York-area franchises — the Yankees, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, and Sabres.

The news is a culmination of DAZN’s nearly year-long effort to break into the local sports broadcast market in the United States. After initially considering a lifesaving merger or acquisition of Main Street, DAZN instead chose to allow the company to collapse and attempt to court local rights for franchises independently. The streamer initially struck out on every MLB team following Main Street’s collapse, but is now set to own streaming rights for at least nine NBA clubs, with the possibility of adding the Washington Wizards as a tenth under a non-exclusive streaming deal, per Sports Business Journal.

With the NBA looking to launch a centralized local streaming hub ahead of the 2027-28 season, DAZN will reportedly sign deals that are either one season in length or have mutual opt-out clauses following the upcoming season as teams demand the flexibility to join the league’s aggregated local rights solution when it launches. If DAZN or a team invokes an opt-out clause, it will reportedly pay a termination fee unless, in the team’s case, DAZN fails to meet certain performance metrics.

DAZN is viewing the upcoming season as the first step of a long-term play to become the home of local NBA broadcasts. By hosting streaming rights for at least nine teams, DAZN hopes to prove itself as capable of competing with other major platforms, like ESPN and YouTube, which will also be interested in securing rights to the NBA’s future local broadcast hub.

Like with many teams that have chosen to sell their local broadcast rights exclusively to a streamer, it is expected that the teams signing with DAZN could have “as many as 15 games or more” simulcast on over-the-air broadcast networks in a team’s local market, or at least made available in front of the DAZN paywall.

DAZN will reportedly pay “minimum guarantees” to the five teams selling their local rights exclusively to the platform. Those fees will range from $8 million to $20 million depending on market size, with additional upside via a revenue sharing model for advertising, over-the-air fees, and subscription fees once DAZN recoups its initial rights payments to the team. Some teams are also being offered equity in DAZN as part of these deals, Sports Business Journal reports.

As for the Magic and Hornets, expect the teams to take a hybrid approach where all games are available on an over-the-air broadcast network within the team’s markets and also available on DAZN’s streaming platform. This is similar to what several other former Main Street teams have done, including the Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, and Atlanta Hawks, though some teams have yet to announce their streaming arrangements.

The final two NBA teams formerly tied to Main Street, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers, are reportedly also eyeing hybrid models, though they will not choose DAZN as a streaming partner.

DAZN’s takeover of Gotham Sports will reportedly happen prior to the start of NBA and NHL season. The Yankees are expected to remain on the app through the remainder of MLB season.

With as many as 10 NBA teams under its wings for the upcoming season (at least in some capacity), DAZN will have a fighting chance to secure a larger, and potentially more lucrative arrangement with the NBA come 2027-28. The company, with its billionaire owner Sir Len Blavatnik and additional funding through Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is surely capitalized well enough to compete with ESPN, YouTube, and others. The question is whether it can show signs of a breakthrough with the American consumer this upcoming season.