NBA Opening Night: How NBC And Amazon Prime Plan To Build As Partners

In such a setting, NBC Sports’ executives and talent could have felt compelled simply to toast each other for a job well done.

When they gathered around NBC Sports’ studio in Stamford, CT for a production seminar last week, however, they also centered on a different theme surrounding their NBA coverage. Sure, they congratulated each other for their first year as an NBA broadcast partner following a 24-year hiatus. NBC Sports executives also used that gathering to stress something else, though.

“Let’s be better than we were in year two,” said Justin Byczek, NBC Sports’ Executive Vice President of Programing and Rights Management. “Everybody is pulling the rope in the same direction.”

Granted, NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video reported positive developments in their first season of a 10-year, as NBA broadcast partners. The NBA had secured an 11-year, $76 million deal with NBC Sports, Amazon Prime Video and ESPN/ABC through the 2035-36 season.

NBC drew strong average viewership numbers across 100 regular-season games (2.8 million), the All-Star game (8.8 million) and Western Conference Finals (10.8 million viewers) through its linear channels (NBC, Telemundo) and streaming platform (Peacock). Amazon Prime Video also attracted high average marks across 67 regular-season games (1.0 million), the NBA Cup Championship game (3.07 million) and Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons (6.53 million). The NBA noted that a combined 170 million people watched its regular-season games across ABC/ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, NBC/Peacock and NBA TV (its highest ratings in 24 years). It also reported strong viewership numbers across all platforms through the first two rounds of the playoffs (an average of 4.5 million, its highest in 29 years).

Both NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video anticipate a stronger encore.

“The biggest thing about going into season two is it’s not season one,” said Jared Stacy, Amazon Prime Video’s Vice President of Global Live Sports Production. “The launch year comes with a lot of complexity. A lot of people hadn’t worked together before with a lot of new equipment. This year, everyone comes in with a year under their belt with familiarity and a lot of reps working together. So I feel like there is going to be a natural step forward in the way our presentation looks and sounds.”

Both NBC Sports and Amazon Prime will show more marquee games

Both NBA broadcast partners will open the 2025-26 season eager to show they are in regular-season form.

For NBA opening night on Tuesday, NBC will showcase a triple header both on its linear and streaming platforms that includes the Boston Celtics-Detroit Pistons (3 pm ET), Philadelphia 76ers-New York Knicks (6:30 pm ET) and Oklahoma City Thunder-San Antonio Spurs (9:30 pm ET).

“Can we create larger national enthusiasm with the league around Opening Day? We believe we can,” Byczek said. “We believe that we got the assets and the platforms to market. We think there is interest throughout the day. We’re going to try it.”

NBC Sports will be even more ambitious later in the season. It will broadcast a quadruple header on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 19 2026) on its linear and streaming platforms, including Milwaukee-Atlanta (1 pm ET), Oklahoma City-Cleveland (2:30 pm ET), Dallas-New York (5 pm ET) and Detroit-Boston (8 pm ET). On President’s Day (Feb. 15, 2026), NBC Sports will then feature another quadruple header with Minnesota-Charlotte (12 pm ET), Philadelphia-Dallas (2:30 pm PT), San Antonio-Miami (5 pm ET) and Indiana-Golden State (7:30 pm ET).

NBC Sports hardly worries that such an extensive lineup will yield diminishing returns. This approach actually mirrors the NBA’s recent tradition in featuring five games on Christmas Day. So why shouldn’t NBC also showcase marquee games on two other national holidays? It also helps that President’s Day takes place a day after Super Bowl LXI. Most fans will have the day off from work and school and become more inclined to watch games throughout both days.

“We believe we can be onto something about stretching that day out,” Byczek said, “and creating more of a celebration across the league and building into prime time.”

Just like last season, NBC Sports will also showcase double headers on Mondays (beginning Oct. 26), Tuesdays (Oct. 27) and Sundays (Jan. 24). Byczek said the network and the NBA agreed to reduce other Sunday games to ensure higher visibility for its Sunday night slate.

Just like last season, Amazon Prime Video will broadcast 67 regular-season games, the NBA Cup knockout rounds and championship game and the NBA Play-In Tournament. On Jan. 21, 2026, Amazon Prime Video will also showcase Philadelphia 76ers guard Jaylen Brown facing his former team (Boston Celtics) on the road for the first time since last summer’s controversial trade. A week later, Amazon Prime Video will feature Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo returning to Milwaukee for the first time since the Bucks acquiesced his trade demand last summer. For the first time, Amazon Prime Video will also have exclusive rights to the Eastern Conference Finals.

“It’s too early to give projections,” Stacy said. “But we’re obviously expecting our largest audiences around those games.”

Don’t expect Michael Jordan to make another comeback

NBC Sports surely expected a large audience when they secured the Chicago Bulls’ iconic star to a sitdown interview with announcer Mike Tirico. Jordan did not appear regularly on the telecasts, though. Instead, Jordan gave an extended sit-down interview with Tirico to talk about various subjects, which NBC then aired in various segmentsthroughout last season.

“His voice is one that fans would love to hear more from,” Byczek said of Jordan. “He’s very protective of it in how and when he speaks. We were lucky to figure out how to get some small bites at the apple. I think it gave us some interesting pieces to help launch around. He gave us some excitement as we were launching the NBA as part of our up-front presentation as well as back at Radio City ahead of our first season. All of that was inherently positive. It’ll be up to him how much more of that stuff he wants to do down the road. We’d be happy to do more with him if the opportunity presents itself.”

Has Jordan and his camp expressed any interest in telling NBC Sports that he’s back?

“I don’t think we have plans to do too much more,” Byczek said. “This was going to be a very digestible focused piece for year one. I think that chapter has closed. Then we’ll figure out what the next opportunity is.”

Expect NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video to focus more on the games

Of course, NBC Sports would invite Jordan back in any capacity. But that unlikely development won’t determine the network’s success or failure. Both NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video already have other star talent that are willing to provide both substance and candor.

NBC Sports features stars in Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady Reggie Miller, Vince Carter, Jamal Crawford. So does Amazon Prime Video with Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Blake Griffin, Dwyane Wade, Candace Parker and Udonis Haslem. Following a 22-year NBA career that entailed the Toronto Raptors listing him as the greatest Raptor of all time, Kyle Lowry will also join the studio. During their studio shows and telecasts, both networks take a much different approach than what Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith do on “Inside the NBA” and what ESPN presents on its debate shows. Though all of the networks’ star personalities offer candor and constructive criticism, they also speak more about the game and dive more into Xs and Os.

“That group really came together,” Stacy said. “I think every time they were on, they were insightful. They were a fun watch. I think it’s the right mix of obviously amazing basketball credibility and incredible credentials across the board. They also have the ability to have fun. They all love the game. They all have things to say. They can all teach people.”

Will the NBA All-Star game be successful again?

To its delightful surprise, NBC Sports broadcast an All-Star game that actually became compelling at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

The NBA featured a round-robin tournament with four teams, including the Americans’ veteran stars, the American’s young prospects and the international stars competing against each other in 12-minute increments. That seemed like an appropriate tie-in considering the NBA’s global growth and that NBC showcased the Winter Olympics leading into All-Star weekend. It also helped that San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama talked about the All-Star game’s importance with words and actions. His contemporaries followed suit.

“You have to credit the players,” Byczek said. “You have to really credit Wemby. He set the tone last year out in LA for the game. He came to play. And everybody else responded to it. I think you could hear the sneakers squeaking. You could see defense being played.”

In related news, the All-Star game averaged 8.8 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and Telemundo. That represented the NBA’s largest viewership audience to watch an All-Star game since 2011. Despite those promising returns, Byczek said the network has had “ongoing conversations with the league” on how to improve this season’s All-Star weekend in Phoenix (Feb. 19-21). Byczek didn’t share specifics, but he revealed that “adding star power to the skills competition and to the dunk contest is always a priority.”

“Is there enough content to fill the skills window? We’re contemplating whether we should add another event or two,” Byczek said. “What do those events look like? In past iterations, you’ve seen some ‘W’ players participate in some of those things. So everything is on the table.”

Technology will continue to evolve

Some NBA fans may have felt frustrated with having to spend more money to watch games on new platforms. But Byczek and Stacy said the networks didn’t field much backlash, and added the viewership numbers suggest most fans adapted just fine. Amazon Prime Video had already broadcast other sporting events, including NFL football on Thursday Nights. NBC Sports also featured regional games on either its network channel or regional sports network, while showing out-of-market games on Peacock. That strategy enabled NBC Sports to maximize its audiences on linear and streaming platforms.

This season, Amazon Prime Video will complement the broadcast with “Prime 360,” with high-resolution cameras positioned around the court to ensure multidimensional footage. They will then process that footage through AL-powered models to generate cinematic highlights both for in-game viewing and for analysis during the network’s pre-game, half-time and postgame studio show.

Amazon Prime Video will also give viewers the choice to watch select games through “Prime Vision and Prime Insights." That stream will provide multiple camera angles, on-screen graphics and a data-driven stats.

“We’re expanding upon our 360 system,” Stacy said. “That gives the virtual cinematic highlights and camera angles that don’t really exist in the real world. We’re going to expand the rollout of that program. We always used technology to enhance our storytelling.”

All of which suggests NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video have what it takes to provide a more compelling sequel.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com