NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told GMs on Thursday that the league plans to make anti-tanking rules for the 2026-27 season. Getty Images
The NBA has informed teams that it may launch a streaming hub for local broadcasts as soon as next season -- a year earlier than expected -- as a result of Main Street Sports Group’s impending demise in April, multiple sources told SBJ.
While the exact format is still being ideated, those sources said the league is in talks with YouTubeTV, DAZN, Amazon and ESPN about housing local games for an aggregate of teams -- similar to an NFL Sunday Ticket -- depending on how many franchises opt in. Sources believe those streaming platforms would need the NBA to guarantee a certain threshold of teams before agreeing to any substantive deal, which industry insiders believe could be worth billions.
As of now, indications are the NBA’s 13 Main Street teams -- the Hawks, Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Bucks, Timberwolves, Thunder, Magic and Spurs -- are likely candidates for the streaming hub. Sources also are convinced that NBC Sports still wants out of the RSN business and that its four teams -- the Celtics, Warriors, 76ers and Kings -- could become available, as well. Add in the five teams that have already abandoned RSNs (Suns, Jazz, Blazers, Mavericks and Pelicans), and as many 22 teams could join what would essentially be a national streaming RSN.
The league could also entice teams with their own networks -- such as the Wizards with Monumental Sports & Entertainment and the Nuggets with Altitude -- to join them, as well, although those deals could be more complex because Monumental and Altitude also air NHL games.
The more teams that join, the more lucrative the deal would be for the NBA, with franchises hoping the accompanying rights fee could make up partly for the lost rights-fee payments from Main Street.
The NBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, sources said YouTubeTV and DAZN have particularly escalated talks with the league in recent weeks, with DAZN also asking individual teams to consider them as a streaming option in the event the NBA waits until the 2027-28 season, as originally planned, to launch its aggregated hub. If the league does wait until 2027-28, DAZN has told teams it could do one-year local bridge deals in the interim, if for no other reason than it gets them a superior place at the table to bid for the national hub.
For that reason, dozens of NBA teams are in limbo, with the league telling them it is attempting to line up a deal in time for next season while also urging them to find potential local broadcast options if it cannot.
Most Main Street teams, as a result, are exploring all possibilities, for both linear and streaming. For linear, most are lining up over-the-air deals with local stations or creating direct-to-distributor packages. Or a franchise like the Cavaliers, for instance, that already has the infrastructure of Rock Entertainment Group in place and could seamlessly shift their games there.
For streaming, it is an all-out competition in the near term, with ViewLift, Victory + and Kiswe all vying to acquire rights to the Main Street teams. But the fact that it could be only a one-year deal (if the national streaming RSN launches in 2027-28) is the biggest obstacle to teams figuring out a plan. That, and the extended market fees.
Either way, the blueprint of that national streaming RSN is complex. Because Amazon is the current distribution home for League Pass, as part of its national media rights deal, the conundrum is what happens if YouTubeTV lands the streaming RSN package. As of now, League Pass gives customers access to every out-of- market game and blacks out the games in market. But a national streaming RSN would be designed specifically for in-market games and, if it’s anything like League Pass, potentially out-of-market games, as well.
That would be virtually a duplicate of League Pass. But industry sources believe the NBA could eliminate League Pass or negotiate a solution. Or, if Amazon acquires the streaming RSN instead of YouTubeTV, it is a moot point.