NBA agrees to enormous 9-year TV deal
The NBA has re-upped with ESPN and TNT on a new nine-year television contract, two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Paste BN Sports. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the terms of the deal had not been announced.
According to the New York Times, the deal that will begin in the 2016-17 season is worth a whopping $24 billion – nearly three times that of the league's current contract.
Despite months of speculation that Fox Sports One could secure part of the NBA package, the ESPN/TNT deal was done before ESPN and TNT's exclusive negotiation window with the league had ended.
With the NBA's salary cap having already raised approximately $5 million from the 2013-14 season to the coming 2014-15 campaign, that trend is certainly going to continue.
It has already had a substantive effect within the league, as best evidenced by LeBron James' decision to sign a two-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the summer rather than a long-term deal in order to survey this growing financial landscape.