One of the most noteworthy stories in sports media over the next year will be the continually unfolding saga of the NBA’s next TV rights deal.
The current agreements with ESPN and Warner Brothers Discovery come to an end after the 2024-25 season. And while the league will have new agreements in place before then, it remains to be seen which networks they’ll be with and how much money they’ll be receiving.
The NBA will seemingly be getting a massive bump up from its current nine-year, $24 billion deal signed in 2014. And a big part of that has to do with how much the league has grown and evolved in the decade since. And that’s seen in the stands as well as on TV.
On Monday, the NBA announced that for the second straight year, it had broken the all-time attendance and sellouts record.
The NBA today announced new all-time records for regular-season total attendance (22,536,341), average attendance (18,322), percentage of capacity (98%) and sellouts (872).
More: https://t.co/WcPE7n1NrA pic.twitter.com/PnqFy8h0J6
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 15, 2024
Throughout the 2023-24 season, 22,536,341 fans attended an NBA game, up slightly from 2022-23’s record-setting total of 22,234,502. Additionally, the league saw 872 sellouts, up from 2022-23’s mark of 791. Ten teams (Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, and Sacramento Kings.) sold out all 41 of their home games, while league-wide arena capacity was at 98% for the season, another record.
The league also touted the success of the In-Season Tournament, leading to the highest November average attendance in NBA history (18,208).
