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The business of basketball is set to become far more lucrative today with the official announcement of the NBA's new TV rights deal.
As per the New York Times, the NBA will sign its latest TV rights agreement with ESPN and Turner (TNT), which will come into effect with the 2016 season. Some additional details:
The N.B.A. will receive $24 billion over nine years in deals the league has renewed with ESPN and TNT through the 2024-25 season, according to an executive briefed on the details of the contracts but not authorized to speak publicly.
The deals, which will be announced Monday, represent a near-tripling of the annual average rights fees that ESPN and TNT have been paying in contracts that will end after the 2015-16 season.
The average yearly payments will rise from about $930 million to $2.66 billion.
As SB Nation's Tom Ziller notes, there are some major takeaways from the deal:
- Player salaries are going to explode
- Players are going to angle to be free agents in 2016
- We might avoid another lockout
As Ziller points out, the influx of cash will drive salaries for new contracts up and have every player negotiating for a possible chance to sign on the dotted line come 2016. The hope for all involved is that with more money to go around there will be less of a reason to fight it out when it comes time to negotiate the collective bargaining agreement in 2017.
As part of the new TV deal, Turner will be producing a brand-new NBA Awards Show, according to a release it out by the company.
Not bad for a league that used to air many of its games (including the Finals!) via tape delay.
What do you guys think?