Amazon’s Prime Video has inked an 11-year deal that will bring NBA and WNBA games to the streaming service starting with the 2025-2026 season. Prime Video will air a total of 66 regular-season games and 20 playoff games each year. The league’s new agreements also include Disney and Comcast-owned NBC Universal, which will keep some games on the linear ESPN, ABC, and NBC channels.
They’ll air on Disney’s upcoming standalone ESPN streaming service and NBC’s Peacock as well. As reported by The New York Times, all three companies have agreed to shell out billions for the rights, with Disney paying $2.62 billion annually, Comcast paying $2.45 billion, and Amazon paying $1.93 billion.
Image: Amazon
The deal represents a major shift toward bringing sports to streaming, as the NBA has partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to air its games on TNT for almost 40 years. In a statement to ESPN, the NBA said Warner Bros. Disocvery’s proposal “did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer.”
The NBA will continue to air games on TNT during the 2024-2025 season — but the network isn’t happy about its decision to choose Prime Video. ”We think [the NBA has] grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action,” TNT told ESPN.
The Prime Video broadcasts will start with an opening-week doubleheader and continue with Friday night games, select Saturday afternoon games, and Thursday night doubleheaders (after its Thursday Night Football schedule ends in January 2026). Prime Video will also air the NBA Cup, Play-In Tournament, NBA League Pass, and half of the NBA Summer League games.
“Over the past few years, we have worked hard to bring the very best of sports to Prime Video and to continue to innovate on the viewing experience,” Jay Marine, the global head of sports at Prime Video says in a press release. “We are grateful to partner with the NBA, and can’t wait to tip-off in 2025.”