NBA signs new 11-year media agreements with the Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video through 2035-36 season

CVV News l July 24, 2024

The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced the renewal of its partnership with The Walt Disney Company and new agreements with NBCUniversal (NBCU) and Amazon under which ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Prime Video will telecast NBA games beginning with the 2025-26 season and running through the 2035-36 season.

The NBA App will be a universal access point – seamlessly directing fans to every national game on Disney, NBCU and Amazon platforms.

The new media deals will expand the reach of NBA telecasts, with all national games available on broadly distributed streaming services – Prime Video, Peacock and ESPN’s forthcoming direct-to-consumer service – and with dramatically increased exposure on broadcast television.  Approximately 75 regular-season games will be on broadcast TV each season, up from the minimum of 15 games under the current agreement.

“Our new global media agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon will maximize the reach and accessibility of NBA games for fans in the United States and around the world,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.  “These partners will distribute our content across a wide range of platforms and help transform the fan experience over the next decade.”

“We look forward to building upon our incredible legacy of innovation and growth with our longstanding partners at the NBA,” said ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro.  “The NBA is a vibrant, ascendant league and through this premium collection of rights, including every NBA Finals on our platforms, we will continue to evolve together while successfully navigating the global digital transition and delivering the highest quality coverage for fans.”

“We are proud to once again partner with the NBA and WNBA, two iconic brands and the home of the best basketball in the world,” said Mike Cavanagh, President of Comcast Corporation.  “We look forward to presenting our best-in-class coverage of both leagues with our innovative programming and distribution plan across NBC and Peacock to entertain fans and help grow the game.”

“We are honored that the NBA has entrusted Prime Video to deliver its one-of-a-kind action and excitement to viewers around the world,” said Mike Hopkins, Head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios.  “We look forward to continuing to innovate and evolve live sports coverage for our customers, and are fully committed to building an incredible video experience for millions of NBA fans starting in 2025.”

Disney, NBCU and Amazon also secured the right to distribute an unprecedented number of WNBA live game telecasts, with a significant increase in the reach of WNBA games across broadcast, cable and streaming.  Full details regarding the WNBA’s media agreements will be issued in a separate press release.

The Walt Disney Company

Disney (ABC/ESPN) will distribute a total of 80 NBA regular-season games per season, including more than 20 games on ABC (generally on Saturday nights with NBA Saturday Primetime and on Sunday afternoons with NBA Sunday Showcase) and up to 60 games on ESPN (generally on Wednesday nights and, on occasion, Friday nights).  ABC/ESPN will continue to telecast all five NBA games on Christmas Day and provide exclusive national coverage of the final day of the regular season.

During the playoffs, ABC/ESPN will telecast approximately 18 games in the first two rounds each year and one of the two Conference Finals series in 10 of the 11 years of the agreement.  ABC will remain the exclusive home of the NBA Finals, which it has broadcast since 2003.

All NBA games and events on ABC/ESPN will be available on ESPN’s forthcoming direct-to-consumer service.  ABC/ESPN will continue to telecast the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, NBA Draft, NBA Draft Lottery and half of all NBA Summer League games.  ABC/ESPN platforms will also continue to distribute a package of WNBA and NBA G League regular-season and postseason games.

Disney will distribute NBA games on ESPN-branded assets in several international markets, including Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania and the Netherlands, and via Disney+ in select markets in Asia and Europe.

By the end of this renewal, the NBA’s partnership with ABC/ESPN will reach 34 years.

NBCUniversal

NBCU (NBC/Peacock) will distribute up to 100 NBA regular-season games per season – with more than half of the games airing on NBC (on Sunday and Tuesday nights).  NBCU will telecast the league’s opening night doubleheader on NBC each year and at least two games on MLK Day on NBC and/or Peacock each season.

Peacock will stream a doubleheader each Monday night of the season.  Every Tuesday night, NBC will telecast two games across certain NBC affiliate broadcast stations in different regions of the country.  The first game will start at 8 p.m. ET and be available on NBC across affiliate stations in the Eastern and Central time zones.  The second game will start at 8 p.m. PT and be available on NBC affiliate stations across the Pacific and Mountain time zones.  All Tuesday games will be available on Peacock nationally and certain stations may choose to televise both games.

NBC will become the home of NBA All-Star, including Rising Stars, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, featuring AT&T Slam Dunk, Starry 3-Point Contest and Kia Skills Challenge, and the All-Star Game.  In the playoffs, NBC and/or Peacock will telecast approximately 28 games in the first two rounds of the playoffs, with at least half of those games airing on NBC.  NBC will also telecast one of the two Conference Finals series in six of the 11 years on a rotating basis with Amazon, beginning with the 2025-26 season.

As part of the partnership, NBCU will distribute NBA games in several European markets through Sky Sports as well as in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.  Additionally, NBCU will distribute WNBA games and be the home of all USA Basketball Senior Men’s and Women’s National Team games.

Xfinity will become the Official TV Service of the NBA, WNBA and USA Basketball.  The partnership includes collaboration on marketing and storytelling opportunities, virtual signage during game telecasts and activations at marquee NBA, WNBA and USA Basketball events.

Amazon

Amazon will distribute 66 NBA regular-season games on Prime Video each season, including Thursday night doubleheaders beginning in January, Friday evening doubleheaders, select Saturday afternoon games, at least one game on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), and the Quarterfinals and Semifinals in the Knockout Round of the Emirates NBA Cup.  In addition, Prime Video will stream the Championship Game of the Emirates NBA Cup.

Prime Video will also distribute all six SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament games.  In the playoffs, Prime Video will stream approximately one-third of the first and second rounds each year.  Additionally, Prime Video will stream one of the two Conference Finals series in six of the 11 years on a rotating basis with NBCU, beginning with the 2026-27 NBA season.

Amazon will distribute NBA games globally as part of Prime Video, with an expanded package of games in select territories, including Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland.  This expanded package includes a minimum of 20 additional primetime regular season games each year, a Conference Finals series each year, and the NBA Finals in six of the 11 years.  Prime Video will also become the NBA’s strategic partner and third-party global destination of NBA League Pass – the league’s live NBA game subscription service, with expanded distribution rights for NBA League Pass in the U.S. and internationally.   Additionally, as part of the agreement, Prime Video will stream half of all NBA Summer League games as well as a package of WNBA and NBA G League regular-season and postseason games.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been named the 2022-23 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion

CVV News l May 25, 2023

NEW YORK — Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been named the 2022-23 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion, the NBA today announced.  Curry was selected from a group of five finalists for his dedication to pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically marginalized or systemically disadvantaged.

Curry prioritizes uplifting communities by fostering equity and creating access to opportunity.  As a co-chair of former First Lady Michelle Obama’s “When We All Vote” initiative, Curry uses his platform to drive voter registration, education and turnout, most recently during the 2022 election season.  His role encouraged millions of new voters to participate in the political process and make their voices heard through civic engagement.  As part of his ongoing voting-related efforts, Curry participated in the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition’s “Freedom to Vote” social media campaign to help advocate for the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act in the U.S. Senate.  Curry is also committed to raising awareness around issues of community safety, utilizing the Warriors’ 2023 White House visit to engage directly with President Biden and participate in a White House press briefing with head coach Steve Kerr to publicly address the matter.

Much of Curry’s work also focuses on supporting underrepresented groups and reducing barriers to opportunity. In 2022, he graduated from Davidson College and wrote his final thesis on gender equity in sports, an issue that anchors his progressive and innovative ventures across the consumer, entertainment and non-profit spaces.  Through UNDERRATED, Curry’s lifestyle brand that empowers underrated and underrepresented individuals by opening doors for often-overlooked student-athletes, he creates equity, access and opportunity for basketball and golf athletes around the world to be seen by college recruiters, sports agents and other industry leaders.  UNDERRATED has also enabled female athletes to access the same opportunities as their male counterparts, provided scholarships for athletes and offered personal development programming for young people.  Among these efforts, Curry committed $6 million in funding to the men’s and women’s golf team at Howard University, which hadn’t been active for 50 years.

Unanimous Media, Curry’s multimedia company rooted in the mission to inspire audiences through authentic storytelling, is dedicated to collaborating with underrepresented filmmakers, creators and writers across the entertainment industry.

Through Eat. Learn. Play., Curry’s nonprofit co-founded with his wife Ayesha, Curry works to ensure every child in Oakland has access to nutritious food they need to be healthy and thrive, resources to foster a love for learning and reading, and safe places with equitable opportunities to play. With a mission to address and overcome the systemic socio-economic barriers facing underserved communities, Eat. Learn. Play. and its partners continue making a positive impact in the lives of children and families in need. Over the last year, Eat. Learn. Play. has provided over two million meals and 500,000 books to Oakland students, funded over 1,500 teacher-led classroom literacy projects, remodeled four new playspaces complete with multi-sport courts, playgrounds, gardens and murals, and more.

Curry has selected University of San Francisco Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice, which investigates, illuminates, and advances the theory and practice of transformational nonviolence to confront and overcome injustice and systemic violence and contribute to the just resolution of communal conflict, to receive a $100,000 contribution from the NBA on his behalf.

“I’m passionate about the work of the University of San Francisco Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice and its commitment to overcoming injustice and systemic violence through peace,” said Curry.  “As an athlete, I consistently leverage my platform to amplify advocacy and address the pervasive issue of systemic racism.  I firmly believe that we must be vocal both on social media and in real life, taking tangible actions to effect real change in our society and for generations to come.  Together, with the organization’s co-founder and director, Dr. Clarence B. Jones, we have initiated meaningful conversations around social justice with the school’s student body, doubled the charity’s donations through my foundation Eat. Learn. Play.’s gift matching initiatives, and continued building on its mission in my personal and professional life by holding people accountable and promoting the principles of justice, fairness and equality today, tomorrow and in the future.”

The four other finalists – Memphis Grizzlies forward-center Jaren Jackson Jr., San Antonio Spurs guard Tre Jones, Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul and Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams – will each receive $25,000 donations from the NBA to the following social justice organizations of their choosing: VisionC (Williams), The Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance (Jackson Jr.), Children’s Bereavement Center of South Texas (Jones) and the Social Change Fund United (Paul).

The winner of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award was determined by a selection committee comprised of Abdul-Jabbar and notable social justice leaders Director of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport Dr. Richard Lapchick, National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial, UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía, Rise Founder and CEO Amanda Nguyen and NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum. This year’s youth representative and Jr. NBA Court of Leaders member was Leah Harmon.

Stephen Curry is Revealed as 2022 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year

Golden State Warriors l December 6, 2022

Today, Sports Illustrated (SI) revealed four-time NBA Champion and two-time MVP Stephen Curry as the 2022 Sportsperson of the Year. On and off the court, Curry accomplished it all in 2022; his stellar performance in the NBA Finals capped a personal two-year comeback from injury and earned him a fourth ring and his first Finals MVP award, cementing the Golden State Warriors as a modern dynasty. Curry extended his reach off the court this year as well: his Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation continues to fight food insecurity, promote early childhood literacy and create safe places for kids to play and be active throughout Oakland and the Bay Area. Additionally, he worked to make golf more inclusive by supporting the Howard University golf team and launched the UNDERRATED Golf Tour for underrepresented junior players. As SI senior writer Michael Rosenberg explains in Daily Cover feature, the greatest accomplishment of our Sportsperson of the Year was reminding the world that his superpower is making everyone around him better.

The annual Sportsperson of the Year Issue went on sale Thursday, December 8th. That same evening, SI will celebrate Curry with an awards gala presented by Chase at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco, with Steve Kerr and Klay Thompson among those paying tribute to Curry. Event sponsors include Under Armour and Grand Coramino with The Reebok Human Rights Award winner celebrated during the show. Sports Illustrated will also honor Allyson Felix, Jocelyn Alo, Brian Robinson Jr., and SI Kids SportsKid of the Year Carter Bonas, with other notable athletes and stars presenting and attending including Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Jennifer King, Deebo Samuel, Joe Manganiello, and more. Rob Riggle hosts the event with live coverage on SI.com and SI social channels, starting on the red carpet at 6 p.m. PST.

Sportsperson of the Year is an honor for athletes, coaches and teams who best represent the spirit and ideals of sportsmanship, character and performance, given annually since the inception of Sports Illustrated. The event is co-produced by Authentic Brands Group (Authentic), Sports Illustrated, The Arena Group, and TIME Studios.

Warriors Re-Sign Kevon Looney

Three-Time NBA Champion Appeared In League-High 104 Games in 2021-22

Posted: Jul 10, 2022

The 2022 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors have re-signed forward/center Kevon Looney, the team announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Looney, 26, averaged 6.0 points, a career-best 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in a career-high 21.1 minutes over 82 games (80 starts) for the Warriors in 2021-22, becoming the first Warriors player to appear in all 82 games since Harrison Barnes in 2014-15. Looney was one of only five players in the NBA to appear in all 82 regular season games and, including all 22 playoff games, totaled a league-high 104 games, matching the franchise record for total games played in a single season held by Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.

In the 2022 Playoffs, Looney tallied averages of 5.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 20.4 minutes over 22 games (13 starts) on the way to capturing his third NBA championship with Golden State. The 6’9” forward/center grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds (including 11 in the first quarter) in a series-clinching Game 6 victory over Memphis in the Western Conference Semifinals on May 13, 2022, the most rebounds for a Warrior in a playoff game since Larry Smith (23) on May 12, 1987. In the Western Conference Finals against Dallas, Looney averaged a double-double with 10.6 points and 10.6 rebounds to go with 3.0 assists in 28.0 minutes over five games (all starts) in the series. He scored a career-high 21 points to go with 12 rebounds in a Game 2 win over the Mavericks on May 20, 2022, scoring 20 points in a game for the first time since his lone season at UCLA in 2015. He closed the series with a 10-point, 18-rebound double-double in Game 5 to help the Warriors advance to the NBA Finals for the fifth time in his seven-year tenure with the club.

Originally selected by the Warriors with the 30th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Looney owns career averages of 4.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 16.4 minutes in 367 games (150 starts) over seven seasons with Golden State. He has appeared in 64 career postseason games (19 starts)—tied for the ninth most in Warriors history—posting averages of 5.7 points. 5.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 19.8 minutes per game while hitting 63.6% from the field, which ranks second on the Warriors’ all-time postseason field goal percentage leaderboard.