NBA Enters Into Long-Term Rights Deals With Disney, Time Warner : Report

(RTTNews) - The National Basketball Association reached long-term media rights deals with ESPN majority-owner Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and Time Warner Inc.'s (TWX) Turner Broadcasting, more than doubling the fees it received under the previous contracts, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.

The reported stated that the contracts with Disney and Turner will give them the rights to NBA games through the 2024-25 season. NBA telecasts will continue on Turner's TNT, ESPN and Disney's ABC network, which will continue to show the NBA Finals.

The league also laid plans in partnership with ESPN for a new online video service that would show live regular season games. In a significant move for ESPN, which derives its huge profits from the pay-TV ecosystem, that service will be open to people who aren't cable or satellite TV customers.

Disney has been paying the NBA about $485 million a year under its existing contract, while Turner has paid about $445 million annually. Those deals were set to expire after the 2015-16 season. The precise value of the new contracts wasn't clear, but they will be worth at least twice as much as the earlier deals, the report said.

According to the report, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is expected to announce the media deals in a news conference on Monday.