21 Years Since Its Final Affiliation With NBA, $172,920,000,000-Worth Company Set to Join Hands With the League Alongside NFL, MLB and NASCAR

12 June 2002 was the day the Los Angeles Lakers, led by central performances from Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, swept the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals with a comfortable 113-107 victory. In addition to being one of the final NBA Championships won by Coach Phil Jackson’s talented ‘Shaq-Kobe’ Lakers, the game also marked the end of NBC’s 12-year licensing agreement with the professional basketball league.

After the NBA moved on to form licensing deals with ABC and ESPN, people considered this an end to Comcast’s interest with the league. 21 years later, however, things seem to be changing.

NY Post reporter hints at Comcast acquiring the League’s TV rights

A few hours ago, the official Twitter handle of NBA Central broke the news that the NBC, a subsidiary of the $172,920,000,000 worth company, is a contender to potentially broadcast NBA games.

The speculation arose after Andrew Marchand, a NY Post sports media reporter, recently went on The Ariel Helwani Basketball Show to discuss the licensing deals. The show is a podcast that boasts about ‘bringing forward the major power players and off-court influencers’ of the NBA and covering ‘all facets of the game from preseason to postseason’.

“NBC is a player,” said Marchand when asked about the deals. “I think they’re gonna fight with TNT for Tuesday. It’s possible they could try to do Sunday Night Basketball after Sunday Night Football.”

Marchand speculates that the Comcast subsidiary wants to legit get back into the NBA broadcasting game. In order to do so, however, they will have to engage in a fight with Amazon. Furthermore, NBC could make deals to acquire broadcasting rights for the NFL, MLB, and NASCAR.

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NBA Television rights post 2002

After cutting ties with Comcast, the NBA shifted to ABC, a broadcasting company owned by Disney, and ESPN. They paid an exorbitant amount of $400 million per season. TNT, owned by Turner Networks, paid around $365 million to keep a hold on its NBA Television rights.

Before the commencement of the 2016-17 season, ESPN had announced that it, along with Turner Sports, had negotiated a new nine-year television deal that will last through the 2024-25 season. Since the exclusive negotiating windows of Disney and TNT run through April 2024, Comcast is not allowed to talk to the league until that time.

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Comcast, in the meantime, has gotten itself into a legal dispute with Altitude TV, a regional television channel. The dispute has been taking place over the broadcasting rights of Avalanche and Nuggets games since 2019. It has gotten so bad that even Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA, has had to come out and voice his concerns.

Comcast’s interest for the television rights of the NBA is all but speculation at the moment. However, it is something to look out for once the bids and agreements start to pour in after the end of the official agreement in 2025.