Comcast CFO: NBA Will Increase Peacock Operating Costs
Erik Gruenwedel
May 16, 2025
NBCUniversal is banking on its upcoming NBA distribution deal to drive NBC Sports and Peacock viewership over the next 11 years, beginning this fall.
The agreement will also increase Peacock operating costs, which could reverse ongoing operating losses at the subscription streaming platform, according to Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong.
Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong
Speaking at the MoffettNathanson 2025 Media, Internet & Communications Conference in New York, Armstrong didn’t deny that in the short-term, the NBA deal would increase Peacock operating costs.
“No doubt, there’s a lot of cost associated with that, both on the linear and the Peacock side,” Armstrong said.
Peacock ended the most-recent fiscal period with 41 million paid subscribers while narrowing the operating loss to $215 million from $639 million in the previous-year period. That trend could likely reverse as Peacock absorbs its share of the $76 billion deal between ABC and ESPN, NBC and Peacock, and Prime Video.
“Our ability to go monetize that is sort of the question,” Armstrong said.
The executive contends that Peacock increased offering of live sports, original programming and Universal theatrical releases, afford it the scale to handle the NBA and other marquee sports.
At the advertising upfronts this week in New York, NBCUniversal disclosed enhanced features, including interactive elements and exclusive commentary from Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, for NBA games live-streaming on Peacock.
“We will turn the NBA, at least our programming will be, we think, second to none, which is sort of our legacy with the NBA as of 20 years ago,” Armstrong said.
The executive believes Peacock is a better deal than the pending $30 monthly standalone ESPN streaming service launching this fall.
Armstrong says Peacock, compared with ESPN, currently has similar NFL, NBA packages, more golf, Premier League Soccer, the Olympics, WWE and NASCAR.
“If you stacked them up next to each other, it’d be an interesting conclusion,” he said, adding that the NBA helps fill a sports programming hole after the conclusion of football.
“We had a real [programming] void in the second quarter. One way to protect [Peacock] is continuity in the sports calendar, which now the NBA fits exactly what we need,” Armstrong said.
Long-term, the CFO says the deal will pay off for Peacock.
“Otherwise we wouldn’t have done it,” Armstrong said. “It fills a lot of different things, both for Peacock and for linear, which are important for us.”
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