The NBA's next TV deal potentially including a major streaming service for its biggest games can go so wrong
The streaming wars are taking over sports, and that could include the NBA.
This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good Morning, Winners! Happy Earth Day! I hope you’re well on this glorious Monday morning. Welcome back to the Morning Win.
There’s been a ton of NBA playoff action this weekend. Could you imagine having to go to, say, Amazon Prime to check it out? If the NBA has its way, that could potentially be in the cards moving forward.
ESPN and TNT’s exclusive negotiating window for the NBA’s television rights reportedly closes at midnight. If that does happen, a deal between the three sides can still be done. But it also opens the window for other partners to swoop in and woo the biggest basketball league in the world.
That’s what the NBA wants, according to the latest from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.
While the league seems interested in continuing its relationship with TNT and ESPN, it does not seem very interested in granting its two longtime broadcast partners the exclusive rights they had previously.
Particularly, Marchand says, the NBA is ready to get in bed with a streamer of some sort. While negotiations with TNT and ESPN are expected to continue, the league will also reportedly entertain overtures from Amazon, NBC, Netflix and more. The NBA is ready for a slice of that streaming pie, baby.
On one hand, you can’t blame the NBA here. Its contemporaries have all seemed to have varying levels of success playing the streaming game.
The NFL’s exclusive Thursday night window for Amazon has been a hit, with viewership reportedly increasing by 24 percent to almost 12 million viewers on average. The NFL also has the Peacock Playoff games that I thought we all hated. Yet, somehow, the NFL reportedly had 24 million viewers for those games on average.
When you view the NBA’s negotiating tactics here from that lens, it’s easy to see why the league is reportedly interested in streaming big games like conference title showdowns or even the NBA Finals on a streaming service. That’s a valuable platform.
But I think that could be a mistake — especially if those big games were exclusively paywalled like the NFL did with its games.
The NFL makes it look easy, man. It’s king in the sports world. No matter when the games are, where they are or how they’re broadcast, people will watch them. It’s a true “if you build it, they will come” situation.
The NBA doesn’t have that or anything close to that. This is a league that’s building gimmicky tournaments in the middle of its season to not only sell something new to streamers but also keep people interested and invigorated.
Sure, the stakes of, say, the NBA Finals would intrinsically build that interest. I’d buy a Peacock subscription for that in a heartbeat. So would a bunch of other nerds like me.
But what about the casuals who don’t already have one? Would they be as interested? The answer is probably not. It’s just not the same draw. Nobody but the NFL has that.
Streaming the NBA would be fine. In fact, I’d even call it a good thing. Cable isn’t dead, but there’s no question that it’s fading. Streaming options are required for big sports leagues in this day and age.
But access is important. Going streaming exclusive would be a huge mistake. Let’s hope the NBA doesn’t make it.
Golf legends are building at the same time
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
We had a special weekend in the golf world, folks.
First, Nelly Korda won a record-tying fifth straight tournament on the LPGA tour after winning the Chevron championship over the weekend. She finished two strokes under Maja Stark to win her second career major.
With that win, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2005) as the only players to win five consecutive LPGA events. That’s surreal. If you’d asked Korda if she’d be in this moment back in 2022 while recovering from a blood clot that required surgery, she’d probably have said no.
On the other side in the PGA, Scottie Scheffler is building out quite the resume himself.
Scheffler won the RBC Heritage tournament on Monday after a rain delay. His lead was so demonstrative that a bogey on the final hole of the tournament didn’t even matter — he still finished 3-under 68 and held a three-shot victory over the competition.
Scheffler has won four of his last five starts and has taken home a purse of a bit over $16 million in the last 42 days.
I won’t call him Tiger-esque. I refuse to call him Tiger-esque … but it does feel pretty close, doesn’t it?
Golf is in a great place, folks.
Playoff hockey is the most stressful thing ever
Case in point: This goal from the Jets on Sunday night. I still have no idea how this went in. Our Mary Clarke doesn’t, either:
“In the midst of a wild back-and-forth Game 1, Adam Lowry extended the Jets’ lead to 5-3 in the third period after an absolutely bonkers sequence. Lowry’s shot hit both posts and then somehow managed to streak across the goal line just barely as it was spinning wildly in the air.
Originally this sequence was called no-goal on the ice, before replays caught the puck spinning right over the line before pivoting back out again.”
Look at how close this is, y’all. Come on.
I’m sorry, Avalanche homies. That’s a tough one. Especially in a tight game like that one? There were 13 total goals scored last night. Every single one made a difference — maybe none more than that one right there that was just mere inches away from not being a goal at all.
Like I said. Playoff hockey. It’s the most stressful thing in sports.
Quick hits: The underdogs rise up … NFL draft dads … and more
— The underdogs ruled the weekend in the NBA playoffs. Our Prince Grimes has more on that for you.
— There are a ton of NFL draft dads this year that will make you feel old as dirt. Here’s Charles Curtis with more.
— Christian D’Andrea has seven slept-on NFL prospects you should definitely keep an eye on.
— Joe Mazzulla being excited about Jayson Tatum’s hard fall here is so weird...but I like it. Robert Zeglinski has more.
— Damian Lillard didn’t go to Coachella this year and he’s so happy about it. Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with more.
— There’s no way the White Sox should be this bad. This is wild. Andrew Joseph has more.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with me today. Appreciate you. Have a fantastic Monday. Let’s do this again tomorrow. Peace.
-Sykes 