New NBA TV Deal Will Have Fans Scrambling to Find Games Every Night

You will soon be able to watch a lot of NBA games—if you can find them.

With NBC, ESPN/ABC and Amazon all expected to be included in the NBA's new TV deal, fans will have to remember which network to tune in to every night. / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

1. We’ve known for months that NBC, ESPN/ABC and Amazon would be the NBA’s new television partners.

On Wednesday, the league and those networks reportedly finalized those deals, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.

We’ve written and talked extensively about TNT losing NBA rights after being partners with the league since 1984, so we’re going to put that aside for now and focus on what these new deals mean for you, the viewer.

The biggest takeaway is that you are going to have access to a lot of NBA games during the regular season, but it’s going to be a huge pain to remember where the games are each night.

ESPN’s deals allows for games on ESPN and ABC. NBC’s deal allows for games on NBC and Peacock. You also have the NFL throwing a wrench in the NBA’s TV schedule because in the case of Sunday Night Football on NBC and Thursday Night Football on Amazon, the NBA will have to wait until the NFL season ends to air in those spots.

So if you’re a big NBA fan who enjoys tuning into regular-season action on a nightly basis, here’s what the new schedule will look like starting with the 2025–26 season:

Sunday: NBC, ESPN
Mondays: Peacock
Tuesdays: NBC
Wednesday: ESPN
Thursday: Amazon
Friday: Amazon, ESPN
Saturday: ABC, Amazon

This is the trade-off in the new streaming world: make games harder for fans to find and access, but take in $76 billion in new TV deals.

2. A brand-new episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped this morning and it features an interview with Sports Business Journal NFL reporter Ben Fischer.

Fischer covered the antitrust trial in which a jury ordered the NFL to pay $4.7 billion for violating antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service. How much will Sunday Ticket customers get and when? What are the NFL’s chances to win an appeal? What does the verdict mean for how the NFL will distribute games in the future? Will the NFL ever sell single-team or single-game packages? What revelations came out of the trial?

Fischer also talks about what's going on with the NFL Network, the cancellation of the popular Around the NFL podcast, moving Good Morning Football out of New York and more.

Following Fischer, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include Joe Burrow’s idea for the NFL schedule, the backlash aimed at LeBron James for playing with Bronny James, the Yankees’ woes and much more.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on SI’s YouTube channel.

3. The Pac-12 is down to two teams: Oregon State and Washington State.

On Wednesday, the “conference” held its media day and it was a pretty surreal scene.

Pac-12 media days has commenced. Really. pic.twitter.com/ZOY0jGTo5b

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) July 11, 2024

Pac-12 is holding a scaled-down media event with an open bar here in Vegas.

Commissioner Teresa Gould opens the event by gesturing to the bar: “We are drinking tonight. If anyone has earned the right to drink, it is the Pac-12.” pic.twitter.com/1L2M0SLeAd

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 11, 2024

The Pac-12 held a very different Football Media Day on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

I was there.

Things overheard at the cocktail party: https://t.co/AtvBJ8TcJ9 pic.twitter.com/8e5cUSZQmp

— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) July 11, 2024

4. The Killers played in London’s O2 Arena on Wednesday as England was wrapping up a 2–1 Euro semifinal win against the Netherlands.

In a super cool scene, the band showed the closing seconds of the game before going right into “Mr. Brightside.”

@thekillers ad-hoc switching to the England match at the O2 stadium in London right in the middle of their show, so that all of the fans in the crowd could experience the overtime win. Right into streamers and Mr. Brightside in EPIC fashion! Bravo! pic.twitter.com/GW1dMIqD7Q

— Adam Hicks (@adam1212hicks) July 10, 2024

Possibly the most electric moment of my life. When the Killers livestream the Euros right before England win and they hit us with Mr Brightside. pic.twitter.com/7Hlk4RN19V

— Martin Kimber (@MrMKimber) July 10, 2024

5. Cam Newton called out former teammate Christian McCaffrey for not inviting him to his recent wedding to Olivia Culpo and even theorized that maybe Newton was snubbed because he made an unflattering comment about McCaffrey’s current quarterback Brock Purdy.

McCaffrey then responded in Newton’s comments section and revealed that he hasn’t gotten a text returned from Newton in four years. That’s rough.

6. This is a terrible take by Deion Sanders. The reason he’s judged on a different scale is because he has a lot to say.

"I'm judged on a different scale, my wins are totally different than your wins."

Deion Sanders talked about the expectations he faces as Colorado's head coach. pic.twitter.com/Yi2fwf2l5B

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 10, 2024

And this is an even worse take by Shedeur Sanders.

Shedeur Sanders: “We know we’re everybody’s Super Bowl” pic.twitter.com/mYpJ5ilPbi

— Karter Baughan (@karterb8) July 10, 2024

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Here’s some lighthearted George Clooney content since he’s in the news right now. The actor is a top-level prankster.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.