Mark Cuban believes if the NBA does not make a significant leap into streaming with its upcoming broadcast rights deals, the league will shoot itself in the foot for the future.
The NBA’s deals with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery end after the 2024-25 season. Both companies are currently in an exclusive negotiating window with the league to retain their rights to air NBA games beyond that season.
“This next one will be good, I don’t think it will be as long as this last one,” Cuban said on All the Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson this week. “But I’m worried about the next one after that.”
Cuban is aware of the breakdown of the traditional cable bundle model. He knows sports still represent a lifeline for cable companies, but doesn’t want the NBA to stay married to that model beyond its usefulness to the league.
“It makes sense for the streamers like Amazon, ESPN, Disney, to want to work with us long-term because it helps them reduce churn, but that’s not a sure thing at all,” Cuban explained to hosts Barnes and Jackson.
Cuban compared the next few years in the NBA to his early tenure as Dallas Mavericks owner. Back then, league revenues did not always increase year to year. Team valuations were shaky, and buying an NBA team was not considered a home-run investment like it is now.
“It’s not automatic that everything always gets better,” Cuban said. “Old-school television needs us right now because we pull better ratings.”
Looking forward, Cuban wants the NBA on streaming so it is prepared for the future. Even if that means taking a financial hit in the short-term.
“(Now) it’s all sports on linear television,” Cuban added. “That’s good in the short-term, but it’s not sustainable in the long-term.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver reportedly wants multiple broadcast partners on the next rights deals. While NBC Universal reportedly wants in, a carve-out or two for a streaming service makes sense.
Beyond normal regular season and playoff packages, the NBA can now sell its In-Season Tournament and Play-In Tournament individually. Netflix has been linked to interest in the In-Season Tournament package as well, but the live game portion of that has recently been downplayed.
The league is also exploring a two-day draft.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.