Michael Jordan is back in the NBA with NBC, which is returning as a broadcast partner for the league for the first time in 23 years and bringing back the sounds of “Roundball Rock” with it.
Amazon Prime Video is entering the NBA scene after hiring many broadcasters who were with Turner Sports in recent years.
ESPN acquired “Inside the NBA,” the most popular studio show in league history.
A new NBA season starts Tuesday night. A new 11-year, $76 billion TV deal kicks in along with it. And that means changes, including — and perhaps most importantly — fans having to figure out which games are where on what days.
“Like the other partners, we’ll be happy to promote the full schedule of NBA and make people aware of where to find the great NBA product across the other two partners, Amazon and ESPN,” NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood said. “So we’re ready to work as one to make that happen.”
With some slight deviation along the way, a good rule of thumb for how the national television schedule in the NBA will go this season looks like this: Peacock on Mondays, NBC and Peacock on Tuesdays, ESPN on Wednesdays and Prime Video on Fridays. Starting around the midpoint of the regular season, there will be more Prime offerings on Thursdays, with Saturdays shared by ABC, ESPN and Prime. Sundays will feature a combination of ABC, ESPN, NBC and Peacock.
There will be some innovations, too, such as select games having an analyst seated near the team bench and not with the play-by-play broadcaster, as is typically the case. The NBA’s app will also now offer scores in as close to real time as possible, with the graphic elements there including a live clock — all done with virtually no latency.
“It was one of the discussions we had with our media partners, not just the cost of the games — and I think most people are conditioned to paying a certain amount for high-value content — but also the discovery of those games,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last month. “Again, I’m a fan of many different sports. I think we’ve all had that experience where you’re going to Google to find the game you want to watch because the world has changed it’s not just automatically in the place you thought it would be.”
The league said Friday it has come up with a way to help the what-game-is-where issue, with the launch of a digital initiative it calls “Tap to Watch.” It will direct fans — seamlessly, the league hopes — to “live NBA games from league, team and a range of popular third-party digital platforms, including all national games on ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock, and Prime Video, as well as nearly all local games.”
Tuesday’s season-opening doubleheader — the Houston Rockets will visit the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are receiving their championship rings, while Los Angeles Lakers host the Golden State Warriors in the nightcap — will be on NBC and Peacock.
Jordan, who won six NBA titles in the 1990s as a a star guard the Chicago Bulls, will be “a special contributor” for NBC, and it seems likely he’ll be part of opening night in some way.
“Stay tuned Tuesday night,” Flood said.
ABC and ESPN will keep the league’s top package, which includes the NBA Finals. ABC has carried the title series since 2003.
ABC and ESPN combined will air nearly 100 regular-season games, as will NBC, including on Sunday nights once the NFL season has ended. Prime will have exclusive global coverage of 66 regular-season games, plus all knockout-round games in the NBA Cup in-season and rights to the entirety of the play-in tournament that completes the field for the playoffs.