Adam Silver Should Create a 4th NBA Media Rights Package; Roger Goodell Would.

The idea that NBA commissioner Adam Silver is pulling off one of the largest public heists in media rights deals is 100% spot on. The NBA is on the verge of banking deals that will collectively generate $76 billion for the NBA over the 11 years just from domestic broadcast rights. 

The heist portion of the story is simple to understand: try asking your boss for a huge raise even though your sales performance is down significantly. What do you think your boss would say?

The reality is the NBA ratings have been on a steady downward spiral for several years, but that does not seem to matter to Adam Silver or the media partners he is negotiating with. This could be because while ratings have dipped, the value of live sports broadcasting appears to have increased in media executives' eyes.

Regardless of why many media execs want in on the NBA, the controversy surrounding the NBA walking away from TNT to secure a deal with NBC could easily be solved if Adam Silver decided to create a fourth media rights package. 

If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell were the commissioner of the NBA, he would absolutely create a fourth media rights package for TNT.

Just look at how Goodell has been able to involve media partners from a wide spectrum of broadcast players. Current NFL partners now include Amazon, Netflix, YouTube, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, ESPN, and Peacock, and those are just the domestic partners. One of the keys to the new media rights deals Goodell has closed in recent years has been the creation of holiday-specific packages, which is bringing in new partners like Netflix this year, which will stream 2 NFL games on Christmas Day.

The bottom line is that Silver is probably wasting money by not creating a special TNT package to keep the network in the fold while expanding its reach with NBC and Amazon.

A special TNT package could be something like a mini-rights deal that gives TNT the right to broadcast two games on one night.

The complexity of these deals certainly comes with challenges; still, each NBA team plays 82 games a season, which ultimately means there is more product to spread out across national partners than the NFL. 

While Silver may view the creation of a fourth media rights package as watering down the other three packages, there is a thirst for live programming that only sports leagues can deliver. I suspect that if Silver created a mini-fourth package, the league would clear $90 billion in its media rights packages and would allow TNT to stay in the game at least one night a week.