Blog: NBA

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Why Amazon is bidding for NBA international rights

Tim Mulligan

28 May 2024

NBA sports rights Sports

The North American Basketball association (NBA) is currently negotiating for the renewal ofof its live broadcast rights. The deals, spanning the next 11 years, are estimated to work out at a combined $76 billion (some way below the NFL’s 2021 $100 billion 11-year deal ).

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What the Charlotte Hornets sale says about sports fandom in 2023

Tim Mulligan

20 Jun 2023

Charlotte Hornets Michael Jordan basketball

Basketball icon Michael Jordan isselling his majority ownershipin the Charlotte Hornets in a deal estimated to be valued at $3 billon (via ESPN ). This figure is more than ten times the $275 million Jordan initially paid for his majority stake in the NBA franchise back in 2010.

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Is gaming the solution to sports’ Gen Z problem?

Alistair Taylor

8 Mar 2021

Gaming Games esports

It has been well-documented that Gen Z’s and Generation Alpha’s interest in watching live sports has waned . It is important to dispel the notion that the younger cohorts are less likely to engage with sports, but rather to appreciate that they just consume them differently .

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Watch Together: BT Sport adapts to lockdown, offering synchronised group streaming

Alistair Taylor

4 Feb 2021

BT BT Sport telco

The pandemic-enforced prohibition of fans in attendance at sporting events has weakened the viewing spectacle, forcing rights holders and operators to experiment with the viewing experience. The NHL pioneered the drive for change in terms of the viewing format, vying to create a ‘ made-for-TV ’ ...

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Football looks to build digital engagement through Fortnite collaboration

Alistair Taylor

22 Jan 2021

endeavor IMG WME

Endeavor-owned IMG, acting as Epic Games’ licensing representative, has brokered deals with 23 football clubs to appear in the publisher’s free-to-play battle royale-style game Fortnite. Looking to capitalise on an increasingly valuable market, with diversifying revenue streams a paramount objec...

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Why the NFL is targeting ‘cord-nevers’

Alistair Taylor

14 Jan 2021

Sports Video Covid-19

For decades, rights holders have prioritised (and relied upon) exponentially increasing broadcast revenues as a mechanism for sustainability and growth, a legacy approach that is in dire need of a review with ‘ D-day’ for sporting rights upon us in 2021.

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DraftKings is making its own strategic bet on the rise of the US sports betting market

Alistair Taylor

19 Nov 2020

DraftKings Sportsbook betting company

US-based sports betting company DraftKings’ stock value has grown 11% following a strong third-quarter performance in which its revenues increased 98% year on year (YoY) to reach $132.8 million, up from $67 million in Q3 2019.

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WWE Q3 Earnings – An innovative digital strategy helps WWE overcome COVID-19 disruption

Alistair Taylor

12 Nov 2020

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment covid

WWE’s Q3 2020 results provide a fascinating insight into how a live event-focused entertainment business has successfully navigated a global pandemic. In its financials for the quarter , WWE saw a 19% revenue increase year-on-year (YoY), with Q3 2020 revenue at $221.

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Why the sports broadcast model is now under threat

Alistair Taylor

6 Nov 2020

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair sports broadcast

The Sinclair Broadcast Group reported its Q3 2020 results earlier this week, which highlighted the detrimental impact sporting investments had on its balance sheet. A 37% year-on-year (YoY) increase in consolidated revenue (to $1.

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Verizon Media announces platform to ‘evolve’ live streaming experience

Alistair Taylor

16 Sep 2020

Verizon Verzion Media Verizon Fios

Verizon Media announced a series of new Media Platform improvements in a press release today (16th September), intended to ‘evolve the live streaming experience’. These features are all aimed at increasing fan engagement following COVID-19’s detrimental impact on the overall viewing spectacle ...

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TwitchSports: Amazon throws sports into the starting line-up

Alistair Taylor

29 Jul 2020

Video Sports Games

Amazon-owned Twitch is no newcomer to sports. However, in a deliberate move to double down, Amazon has conceded that it needs to improve the discoverability of live sporting events for its platform users – so, as of last Wednesday, ‘Sports’ has become a standalone category with the return of T...

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FuboTV adds key sporting rights to portfolio following Disney deal

Alistair Taylor

2 Jul 2020

Fubo FuboTV Sporting rights

FuboTV, the US over-the-top (OTT) internet-delivered TV service launched back in January 2015 as a soccer-centric proposition. In that time it has established itself as a niche distributor of live streams of MLS and LatAm soccer matches to US, Canadian and Spanish audiences.

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Move Over Mickey, The NBA is Set to Become Disney World’s Star Attraction

Alistair Taylor

27 May 2020

AFL Australian Rules Football basketball

COVID-19 forced sports leagues to think outside the box for restarting live sports. The UFC wanted to rent a private island , the NRL to ferry players to and from games, and the WWE performed to empty arenas .

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The Last Dance – ESPN Raining Threes

Alistair Taylor

18 May 2020

Adam Silver bundle Chicago Bulls

With the pandemic-enforced postponement of live sports creating an entertainment void for sports fans, US broadcaster ESPN played its trump card to capitalise on the thirst for stimulating content during lockdown.

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The Show Must Go On – NFL Throws Screen Pass at COVID-19 with NFL Draft

Alistair Taylor

2 Apr 2020

all-star broadcasts Bundesliga

The NFL’s commissioner Roger Goodell announced to all 32 teams in a memo on March 26th that the NFL draft will go ahead as scheduled from the 23 rd to 25 th of April, despite growing pressures resulting from COVID-19 to postpone the event.

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Olympics Postponement: The Sports Media Landscape of COVID-19

Alistair Taylor

26 Mar 2020

Advertising Revenue broadcasters business model

The global COVID-19 pandemic is increasing pressure on the viability of emerging and legacy media business models, and is already having an unprecedented impact on the sports industry. An unprecedented swathe of cancelled sports events has left rights holders unable to monetise their existing broadc...

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Demographic cliff: Is gaming sports’ biggest problem?

Alistair Taylor

14 Aug 2019

aging audience daily active usage daus

Is the peaking attention economy the underlying cause for the decline in sports consumption from the younger demographic, or is it the mediums through which rights holders are distributing sports content ? MIDiA argues… both.

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Tencent Renewal: NBA the Envy of Global Sports Rights Holders?

Alistair Taylor

1 Aug 2019

CBA Chinese Basketball Association custom interactive services

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent have announced a five-year extension of their existing partnership, with Tencent acting as the NBA’s official digital partner until the culmination of the 2024/2025 season.

Why the UFC Wants to Replicate the Yao Ming effect

Alistair Taylor

25 Jun 2019

athlete audience culture brand leverage

The NBA is the third highest grossing league globally, generating $7.4 billion in 2017, behind domestic rivals MLB and NFL. Whereas the MLB and NFL have largely struggled to entice a truly global following, the NBA have become synonymous with Chinese sports fans, and offers a template for the Ultima...

Is Cricket the New ‘Greatest Show on Turf’?

Alistair Taylor

19 Jun 2019

21st Century Fox ad skippers addressable audience

Even before the St. Louis (now LA) Rams were setting records in the NFL during the 1999-2001 seasons, earning the nickname ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’, the Super Bowl was viewed as an unrivalled opportunity to advertise brands, products, and movie trailers to the masses that tune in (or increasi...

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