The NBA Playoffs Have Been a Gift to League’s TV Partners as New Rights Deal Looms

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The 2025 NBA playoffs have proven to be an incredibly valuable asset for the upcoming broadcasters acquiring television rights.

Executives at NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video are surely thrilled with every three-point basket scored since the start of the NBA conference semifinals on May 5.

Mostly thrilling games are being played – ones that are unpredictable and closely contested, fostering the emergence of potential future NBA greats and intense team rivalries that could dominate the sport for years. This development is fantastic news for NBCU, Amazon, and Disney, who secured a colossal $76 billion, 11-year TV rights contract with the NBA, set to begin this year and extend until the 2035-36 season.

Many of the major, urban teams in the league – such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, and Dallas Mavericks – either exited the playoffs prematurely or failed to qualify this season. Injuries have been a significant issue for top-tier players like LeBron James (Lakers), Steph Curry (Warriors), and Jayson Tatum (Celtics) this season, creating an opening at the top that has been seized by the league’s most promising underdog teams.

In the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers made a swift advance towards the Eastern Conference finals. On the other side, in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves managed impressive wins against recent NBA champions, Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors, respectively, to secure their spots.

Since their loss against the Lakers in 2000, the Pacers haven’t reached the NBA Finals. The Knicks last made it there back in 1999, when they were defeated by the San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder, who moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, only managed to reach the finals once (in 2012). On the other hand, the Timberwolves have yet to make an appearance in the NBA Finals.

The semifinals have brought attention to the rising stars who’ve propelled their respective teams past predictions. Players such as Jalen Brunson from the Knicks, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder (awarded MVP of the regular season), Tyrese Haliburton of the Pacers and Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves have clearly shown they are the future NBA greats. The 2025 playoffs appear to be their time to shine.

The ratings for the games have been quite impressive, though not quite as sensational as those seen in the NFL. Last week, ESPN boasted a 12% increase in viewership for its conference semifinals coverage compared to the same period last year. Over the course of 22 games, ESPN drew an average of 4.9 million viewers, which makes it the second-most viewed playoff series since 2011.

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The ratings for the games have been quite good, if not record-breaking like those in the NFL. Last week, ESPN reported a 12% rise in viewership for its conference semifinals coverage compared to last year, averaging 4.9 million viewers across 22 games, making it the second-most watched playoff series since 2011.

On May 21st, TNT’s broadcast of the sensational Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 attracted approximately 6.6 million viewers, hitting a high of 8.5 million viewers. In the final moments of the fourth quarter, the Pacers managed to stage a comeback and edged past the Knicks in overtime with a thrilling score of 138-135. After the Pacers won Game 2 as well, the Knicks reversed the trend in Game 3 by staging another dramatic late fourth-quarter rally from a substantial lead, defeating Indiana 106-100 after being down by double digits.

Ernie Johnson Jr. from TNT’s “Inside the NBA” remarked on May 25th that this game was so extraordinary, words almost fail to capture it, following the Knicks’ victory in Game 3.

For the TNT executives and production crews responsible for NBA coverage over the last 35 years, the intensity of the 2025 playoffs has brought a unique blend of joy and sorrow as they approach their final round.

The “Inside the NBA” team consisting of Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith have had plenty of topics to discuss during halftime and post-game shows. However, starting from the 2025-26 NBA season in October, the rights for the NBA and the “Inside the NBA” franchise will no longer be with TNT.

The shift of the NBA’s major rights package from traditional cable channel TNT to streaming service Amazon signifies a broader disruption happening within the entire pay TV industry. TNT faces a challenging task in finding a replacement for Shaquille O’Neal’s time slot in just a short period. Meanwhile, attention is focused on the game clock and scores as the NBA concludes an exciting postseason over the next few weeks.

(Pictured: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder)

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2025-05-26 23:16