Of all the aspects of the NBA’s 11-year, $76-billion media rights deal, perhaps none seemed to get people as universally excited as the possibility of “Roundball Rock” returning to NBC broadcasts.
Now, that news is official. Tesh-heads, rejoice!
So critical is the “Roundball Rock” theme to the NBA on NBC experience that it was specifically called out in NBCUniversal’s press release on Wednesday officially announcing the deal.
🗣 TURN IT UP. I LOVE THIS SONG!
The NBA is coming back – Fall 2025 on NBC and Peacock. pic.twitter.com/xz6hOVbpZE
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 24, 2024
“The return of the iconic ‘Roundball Rock’ theme music,” the release noted as one of the highlights of the 11-year agreement.
In fact, get ready to hear a whole lot more of John Tesh’s instrumental classic on NBC in the coming days. In May, Tesh said that NBC had reached out to re-license the song for Paris Olympics coverage. He also said at the time that his plans were to re-record the iconic tune with an orchestra.
The iconic song was used for The NBA on NBC coverage between 1990 and 2002. According to Tesh, NBC played the theme 12,000 times during that run.
Pretty much as soon as reports leaked over NBC’s interest in getting back into NBA broadcasting, there were calls for “Roundball Rock” to return with them. While the song had since been licensed to Fox Sports for some college basketball broadcasts, Tesh made it clear that the deal was non-exclusive and it was up to NBC to make the call.
Apparently, they did.
The only question is, will the song’s original lyrics finally make their way back into the official version?
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.