New surprising wrinkle with ESPN’s new NBA deal revealed

While ABC/ESPN is a big part of the new NBA media rights deal, the Disney networks are losing out in broadcasting one year of Conference Finals matchups.

Andrew Marchand of The Athletic detailed what the 11-year deal will look like for ABC/ESPN as well as both NBC and Amazon.

“NEWS NUGGET: Since under new 11-year NBA TV deals, NBC & Amazon have 6 conference finals each, there will be one year when ABC/ESPN doesn’t have a conference final, according to sources,” Marchand reported on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday night. “ESPN has conference finals 10 of 11 yrs & all Finals. TNT still threatening to try to match.”

NEWS NUGGET: Since under new 11-year NBA TV deals, NBC & Amazon have 6 conference finals each, there will be one year when ABC/ESPN doesn't have a conference final, according to sources.

ESPN has conference finals 10 of 11 yrs & all Finals. TNT still threatening to try to match. https://t.co/iNd5I5QNxg

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 12, 2024

Anyone interested on how TNT can try to match (and how it would likely not work anyway) can do so here.

Regarding the Conference Finals news, ABC/ESPN will still dominate the coverage of the NBA’s two penultimate series. ABC/ESPN will broadcast the Conference Finals for five years with NBC and another five with Amazon. The remaining year of Conference Finals in the 11-year window will be covered by NBC and Amazon.

The Conference Finals have been broadcast by ABC/ESPN and TNT (though other Warner Bros. networks have picked up games as well) since 2003. In even numbered years, TNT has broadcast the Western Conference Finals while ABC/ESPN has covered the Eastern Conference Finals. In odd numbered years, the roles have been reversed.

[Andrew Marchand on X]