NBA to NBC contract details: Why league left TNT to go back to network television

The NBA is returning to NBC.

The NBA has been working on a new television deal for the start of the 2025-26 season and reportedly wanted three media partners . Several reports suggested the league was "close to deals with both Disney and Amazon," and the third was likely between NBCUniversal or Warner Bros. Discovery.

On July 24, the NBA announced the renewal of its partnership with The Walt Disney Company. It also announced new partnerships with NBCUniversal and Amazon.

The news is positive from a nostalgia standpoint, especially for an older generation of hoops fans who grew up with the NBA on NBC and its signature "Roundball Rock" theme song .

The undeniable negative is that because Warner Bros. Discovery lost out on the deal, that means "Inside the NBA" on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith is in limbo.

As NBA fans try to take the good with the bad, look at NBC's NBA television contract breakdown and how the network outbid Warner Bros. Discovery.

MORE: When is 'Inside the NBA' on TNT ending?

NBA to NBC contract details

NBCUniversal has reportedly landed an 11-year NBA television deal worth $2.5 billion per year.

A previous report from The Wall Street Journal said that NBC offered the NBA an average of $2.5 billion per year. That offer is more than double Warner Bros. Discovery's current reported payment of $1.2 billion per year.

The deal means NBA on NBC will return at the start of the 2025-26 season. The network previously owned a share of the NBA's television rights from 1990-2002, before Disney (ESPN) outbid it.

Now, NBC will share the NBA's television rights with Disney and Amazon.

As part of the new deal, NBC will have "six conference finals over the 11 years, a heavy amount of playoff games and the All-Star game," per The Athletic's Andrew Marchand . Peacock will also have exclusive games on Mondays during the regular season, leaving NBC games on Tuesdays and Sundays.

This post will be updated with more information as it becomes available.