All things considered, the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament was a success for both the league and its television partners.
Moving forward, however, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the NBA tweak the event — especially as it continues to negotiate its next media rights deal.
According to one well-connected executive, one of those changes could include moving the event from December to January. Appearing on The Town with Matthew Belloni, WWE president and former sports media super agent Nick Khan said that he’s heard that such a move is already being discussed.
“Remember, this was the first one. It certainly seemed quite early in the season to do that,” Khan said. “It absolutely worked. You’re starting to hear rumblings of, ‘Well maybe we’ll move that to January.'”
Khan proceeded to link such a move to a potential deal with Netflix. Earlier this year, WWE agreed to a deal with the super streamer for its flagship show, Raw, which is set to begin at the start of 2025.
“When is WWE launching on Netflix? In January. What does that mean?” Khan said. “I’m not suggesting they’re following us. What I’m suggesting is Netflix is going to be technologically ready in January. So when I started hearing the rumors of, ‘Well, maybe we’ll move this tournament to January’ I said, ‘Oh, they’re probably talking to Netflix. That would make a lot of sense for them.’ So let’s see.”
While that timeline certainly adds up, it’s unclear whether next season’s In-Season Tournament is currently available for purchase, as the NBA’s next media rights deal won’t go into effect until the 2025-26 season. ESPN and TNT split the rights between this past season’s In-Season Tournament, which drew impressive ratings as LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural event.
Still, whether it’s next season or the season after, momentum for Netflix adding the In-Season Tournament to its portfolio — which Sports Business Journal first reported as a possibility last November — certainly seems to be building. And between the NBA’s apparent desire to increase its streaming presence and Netflix finally making its move into live sports, a potential partnership between the two certainly makes a lot of sense.
[The Town]
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.