The National Basketball Association has reached long-term media rights contracts with Walt Disney Co and Time Warner Inc's Turner Broadcasting, more than doubling the fees it received under the previous contracts, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The contracts will give them media rights through the 2024-2025 season of the NBA games. Turner's TNT and Disney's ABC network will continue to telecast the NBA games, which will also show the NBA finals, the report said.
Disney is currently paying about $485 million per year under its contract with the NBA while Turner is paying about $445 million annually. The exact value of the contracts was not clear, but will be twice as much as the previous deals, the report said.
The league also plans to partner with ESPN for a new online video service that would show live regular season games. The service will be open to people who aren't ESPN's cable or satellite TV customers, the daily reported.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver is expected to announce the deals in a news conference on Monday, according to the report.
NBA spokesman Michael Bass declined to comment on the report, while Walt Disney and Time Warner were not available for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.
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