Major sports league contracts don't change hands often.
But on Oct. 21, Comcast's (CMCSA) NBCUniversal wrested the U.S.'s second most-popular - and fastest-growing worldwide - league out of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) subsidiary TNT's hands.
NBC Universal's broadcast of its first NBA game in 23 years is the first of many big changes the network has in store. It marked the beginning of a massive, three-party, $76 billion, 11-year media rights deal that will force viewers to retool how they watch basketball.
Comcast, Disney (DIS), and Amazon (AMZN) now share the rights to broadcast the NBA.
The new national broadcast schedule will shake up viewers' assumptions, and its studio shows will contrast with what fans have come to expect from the award-winning "Inside the NBA."
The games will be spread over three national networks and two streaming services. While that doesn't sound too bad in the age of streaming, the broadcasts have shifted from what have been their traditional days. See a full day-by-day schedule below.
Further, NBC and Amazon's new studio shows are diverting fromthe tried-and-true formula of "Inside the NBA."
"They won't outright publicly say it, but if you listen closely enough to the plans of the NBA newcomers - NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime Video - you can tell that they hope to be the anti-'Inside The NBA,'" writes Andrew Marchand.
The question is: Will viewers be happy with the new viewing schedule? Equally important, will they enjoy the new studio shows as much as they do Charles Barkley and company of "Inside the NBA"?
National NBA games will be on different days and different channels, some of which will now require a subscription.
New NBA broadcast schedule changes days, networks
Fans were accustomed to the NBA schedule as it was. You had "Inside the NBA"on Tuesdays and Thursdays, ESPN every other weekday, and ABC on Sundays.
With this new deal, national games will be on different days and different channels, some of which did not previously require a subscription. The positive is that there will be more nationally broadcast games than ever before, with a national TV game every day of the week.
The bad news is that viewing two weekly games will requirea streaming subscription. This shift is aimed at attracting new, younger audiences. But it will be a roadblock for older, traditional cable viewers.
"One of the biggest challenges for the NBA this season will be educating its audience on when and where national games are airing," reports Richard Deitsch.
Without further ado, here's the new day-by-day weekly national broadcast schedule:
2025-26 NBA Season Watch Guide Graphic NBA
This schedule does double duty by showing how the week is split up among the deal's three parties: Disney (ABC, ESPN), Amazon (Prime), and NBC (NBC, Peacock).
Dedicated viewers will observe that TNT has been booted off entirely after 40 years of broadcasting the league. "Inside the NBA," TNT's poster broadcast, has been moved off Tuesdays and Thursdays and replaced by NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime, respectively.
Mondays will be exclusively streamed on Peacock, and Thursdays exclusively on Prime. Bars will have to program their TVs accordingly, and viewers will have to adapt.
NBA on NBC won't follow "Inside the NBA" formula
You would think that NBC, which signed off on paying about 2.6 billion a year/$27 billion total over the next decade-plus, would want to emulate the most successful basketball - and possibly sports - studio show ever.
True, NBC's "Roundball Rock" of yore had its own brand, but that was more than a decade ago, and these things fade.
In a funny moment, when interviewed, younger NBA stars had no recollection whatsoever of NBA on NBC or "Roundball."
NBC's studio shows will imitate "Inside"in some aspects, but want their analysts to break away from the latter's typical tone, forge their own identities, and make coverage of the league more positive.
"While the Charles Barkley-led show that is migrating from TNT to ESPN is iconic, there is a perception that the program's analysts, led by Sir Diss-a-Lot Barkley, are haters," writes Marchand.
"NBC and Amazon hope to match the authenticity and impact of 'Inside the NBA' while also celebrating the game. Insults are out. Uplifting is in."
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That "hater" disposition arguably made the "Inside" crew famous and the show must-see TV, and they aren't hanging 'em up just yet.
As stated, the "Inside the NBA" talent and production crew were retained by ESPN, and the show is slated to appear for "at least 20" select broadcasts on ESPN or ABC this season.
They kick off the season with three broadcasts, then slow down to only one in the dog days of the NBA season before Christmas, with a return to volume as the playoffs approach next year.
Nonetheless, the old guard will be around to pop in and be (perhaps necessarily) critical at times.
NBC and Amazon's new guard will need to perform to approach the high standard set by "Inside." For NBCUniversal, this cast is led by Mike Tirico (returning from a 10-year absence), rising star broadcaster Noah Eagle (Ian Eagle's son), and veteran analyst Robbie Hummel.
Then come the former players: Carmelo Anthony, Derek Fisher, Jamal Crawford, aaaand - drumroll please - Michael Jordan as a special correspondent.
Amazon has gone with athlete-who-is-actually-funny Blake Griffin, filling out the rest of the roster with former superstar Dirk Nowitzki, league veteran Rudy Gay, and WNBA star Swin Cash.
This former-player-heavy approach seems risky, but Amazon simply doesn't have the deep broadcaster talent pool that NBC does - at least not yet.
How either of these teams will perform is unknown. But"Inside the NBA"will remain the yardstick. A warm initial social media reception for the newcomers is unlikely, but a preferred broadcast will emerge, and analysts may earn their way into fans' hearts over time.
The bottom line is that Amazon, Comcast, and Disney aren't going anywhere. Lucky for investors, all three have oodles of cash to throw at the problem, and a decade-plus to work it out.
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