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Amazon announced its massive new media rights deal with the National Basketball Association on Wednesday, providing a major boost to the company’s sports streaming business.
The 11-year deal begins with the 2025-26 NBA season and will include exclusive streaming rights to 66 regular season games, as well as playoff games in six of the 11 years.
Earlier reports indicated that Amazon was part of the NBA’s lucrative new media rights package, but questions arose this week after Warner Bros. Discovery said it would match Amazon’s offer in a bid to retain its longtime contract with the league.
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon,” the NBA said in a statement.
The deal is a huge addition to Amazon’s growing sports streaming catalog, which already includes the NFL’s Thursday Night Football and live action from several other leagues and teams.
Amazon also announced that it will stream WNBA games via Prime Video through 2036.
Amazon uses its Prime Video arm to help drive signups for its Prime membership program, which costs $139/year and offers various benefits including free shipping and streaming.
“The digital opportunities with Amazon align perfectly with the global interest in the NBA,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “And Prime Video’s massive subscriber base will dramatically expand our ability to reach our fans in new and innovative ways.”
Amazon doesn’t publicly disclose the number of Prime members as part of its financial reporting, though the company has periodically announced major milestones in its global Prime membership. The last announcement came when Amazon surpassed 200 million Prime members worldwide in 2021.
As more people cut the cord, sports leagues are increasingly engaging with tech companies as their existing deals with traditional cable providers expire. Those companies are hungry for valuable content such as live sports — one of the most-watched telecasts — to draw more subscribers to their respective platforms.
Bloomberg reported that Amazon is paying $1.8 billion annually for the NBA rights.
NBC’s Peacock streaming platform is also part of the NBA’s new deals, along with ESPN, which is rolling out a direct-to-consumer service. The new deals are worth more than two and a half times the average annual value of the league’s current agreements, The New York Times reported.
Amazon said its Prime Video Channels will be the strategic partner and third-party global channels store destination for NBA League Pass, the league’s subscription streaming service.
