The 2025 NBA Finals marked a turning point for the league and its fans in many ways.
First, it pitted two small-market teams against each other: the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. Second, ESPN’s presentation of Game 1 of the series fell extraordinarily flat and was a far cry from the Finals of old that felt like spectacles. Finally, much of the studio analysis and talk around the Finals left fans frustrated that the players weren’t getting the respect they deserved. It culminated years of angst over how the league had been covered, with more focus on hot takes, drama, and player movement than on the game itself.
The league listened to the outcry and made changes during the Finals. The league brought back starting lineups for the first time in years. The league added a version of the Larry O’Brien trophy to the court. But as the NBA headed into new media deals with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon, it was clear it needed to turn the page and start over in more ways than one.
Celebrating and Educating
“We had those conversations together with our partners heading into the new paradigm, and we looked at a lot of data about what resonates with fans. And what do fans want to hear? How do fans want to hear the game covered? And what we emerged with from those conversations was a collective agreement that we need to be celebrating and educating,” NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Media Distribution & Partnerships Scott Kaufman-Ross told Awful Announcing this week.
“We have more depth of talent in our league than ever before. The brand of basketball being played is at such a high level, and we should be celebrating those things and telling the narratives and building the storylines. And that’s what really resonates with fans, and that’s what’s really going to grow the game.”
The celebration-and-education mantra has been a major focus for the league in its second year of media deals with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon. From the outset of the new 11-year agreements, it was clear that not just the vibes, but the content, would focus more on serving fans and helping them connect with today’s generation of stars. No sport needed a coverage reset quite like the NBA, from constant chatter from older talking heads about how much better it was back in the day to the endless pursuit of declaring a new “face of the league.” And that’s not even counting for one of the league’s biggest voices and his constant feuds with star players. Thankfully, Tim Legler’s elevation and the opportunity to do more Xs and Os content have balanced it out.
According to Paul Benedict, NBA Senior Vice President and Head of Broadcasting, the NBA’s “celebration and education” theme came from a speaking engagement by legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski at a competition committee meeting a year and a half ago.
“I think the networks have a very clear understanding of what NBA fans want,” Benedict said. “We all share notes and bits of research. Collectively, it makes sense to work together to deliver it. I’d say in looking back at last year and looking ahead to this year, I think what we’re seeing are some examples that speak to this. There was just more of a focus on storytelling around the actual games.”
Nostalgia and Innovation
It was important for fans to feel good about the NBA and its coverage, and NBC and Amazon achieved that in different ways. For NBC, it was about reminding many fans of a golden era of sports: the heyday of the NBA on NBC and the Jordan years. The network was keen to bring back beloved classics like Roundball Rock and occasionally feature some of its legendary voices from the era. From night one of NBA on NBC’s return, it felt like a homecoming for professional basketball.
“We heard it a lot from their side,” Benedict said. “When October 21st, 2025 comes around, just buckle your seatbelt. Peacock, lasers, Roundball Rock, the voice of Mike Tirico, live lineups, tip-off. The familiarity and nostalgia is going to grab people’s attention. But ultimately what we learned with them, it’s got to be your sense of occasion and purpose that’s going to prove durable. The game was the centerpiece of everything. That was always something that was very clear, the game is the star.”
The first Roundball Rock of the season! We are so back.
https://t.co/spqj7PzrE4
— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) October 20, 2026
On the flip side, Amazon provided cutting-edge technology that helped the game shine in a new light. Their LED court let the streamer focus on breaking down the game like few networks ever have, and finally satisfy basketball-hungry fans with real analysis.
“Amazon certainly, it’s a question, can a streamer keep pace with these big media companies? And they clearly showed they could. They spared no expense. The LED court was stunning and they brought over star-level talent. They’ve proven themselves, even though they’re still sort of in their infancy on the sports broadcasting stage. What they’ve done with TNF has been pretty remarkable, and certainly we took note of that. We’re beyond impressed with what they brought to the table,” Benedict reflected.
It looks like the ‘NBA on Prime’ analysts are in a video game as they do a demonstration on an LED court.
#NBA
https://t.co/rdZIkuKlDX
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 24, 2025
Both networks also benefited from adding more contemporary voices to lead their coverage and provide fresh insights. Amazon, in particular, shone with the likes of Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, and Blake Griffin. NBC featured household names like Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady. And innovations in broadcasting like NBC’s “On the Bench,” placing one analyst directly behind each bench and embedding themselves with the team, were well received.
But perhaps the biggest addition to coverage personnel was ESPN finally addressing its longstanding revolving door of studio personalities by striking a licensing deal with TNT Sports for Inside the NBA. And the NBA supported it.
Talking the Cowboys on Inside The NBA??
https://t.co/PobMPS5t9h
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 29, 2025
“We were very supportive of that. Clearly our fans love that show, and those guys really resonate with our fan base. And so we were thrilled that WBD and ESPN were able to work something out to keep that show on the air,” Kaufman-Ross said.
“These guys are almost the Beatles when they walk into an arena,” Benedict stated. “It’s a traveling show. People flock to them. They want to be around them. And it brings just a certain level of energy and gravitas to the Finals. And I think that helped uplift the entire series. I think it worked out tremendously in year one. And obviously, in year two, there’s been a little more thought strategically on their side in terms of making sure that these guys are more consistently on air.”
Expanded reach through streaming and broadcast
The NBA has not only found success in threading the needle for what fans want from its game broadcasts, but also in how it’s delivered. By choosing Amazon, NBC, and ESPN, the NBA planned for the present, but also the future, with 11-year contracts. In an era when leagues and television partners must balance the reach of broadcast television with the attractive demos and revenue of streaming, the NBA found a way to do both.
The league has not only put every game on a streaming platform through Prime Video, ESPN Unlimited, and Peacock, but has also expanded its broadcast reach with more over-the-air games than ever.
“We had a few primary goals for our new media partnerships,” Kaufman-Ross said. “And reach was one of our most important objectives. And in order to achieve those objectives, we knew we had to be distributing our games where our fans were. And in looking at the recent trends in media, it became clear that we needed to be on broadcast television, and particularly for an 11-year agreement, we needed to be on streaming, which was rapidly growing, and we saw more and more of our younger fans navigating. More than nearly 70% of Prime Video’s audience is under the age of 55. And so we knew we needed to be on streaming to reach that demographic. But there’s also a more traditional viewer, and the best place to reach them: broadcast TV.”
The numbers showed the dual focus worked. Regular season viewership was up 16% in the first year of the media deals across all partners. Tentpole regular season events like Opening Night, Christmas Day, and the All-Star Game hit multi-year highs.
The gains accelerated in the postseason. Despite a sweep, ESPN saw the Eastern Conference Finals rise 37% from the year before. On NBC, the epic Western Conference Finals between the Spurs and Thunder averaged 10.8 million viewers, the most since 2002. And as the Knicks won their first title in over 50 years, NBA Finals ratings were the highest since 1998 even though the series lasted just five games, averaging 20.6 million viewers.
This year, the NBA is doubling down on that broadcast exposure. The league is increasing its number of over-the-air telecasts from 75 last season to 90 this season with NBC and ABC. In the last year of the prior media deals, that number was at just 19 games. As the NFL tries to expand its scheduling footprint, new NBA windows are opening this year.
The association tipped off the season with a 3 p.m. ET game between the Celtics and Pistons. This year, NBC and Peacock will add a Presidents Day quadruple-header to the lineup. The league will also have another quadruple-header on ABC on January 30, the day before the AFC and NFC Championship Games.
Building new stars
Another factor in the league’s continued growth is focusing on the league as a whole, not just a few select teams and superstars. Increased broadcast exposure has certainly helped Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, and Anthony Edwards become bigger stars, even though they play in smaller markets. The ratings success of the Thunder-Spurs series proved how quickly the narrative shifted from the Thunder-Pacers Finals the year before.
“You had two smaller markets in Oklahoma City and San Antonio, but you had massive ratings because those games had great teams playing great basketball with great superstars. And a couple of years ago, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might not have been as big a name, but he was featured prominently throughout the playoffs. He’s now a household name, and now when he’s on, he draws like many other superstars do,” Kaufman-Ross said.
“So that is exactly the type of evolution that our partners understand and believe in. In that, featuring all the teams, featuring our young superstars will grow their profile, and they will pay benefits in future seasons as fans are more familiar with them and their game and the way they play basketball.”
Much like the NFL, where parity reigns supreme, and ratings aren’t totally dependent on market size, the league and its television partners are trying to ensure a rising tide lifts all boats. The NBA will have 24 teams with at least 5 national TV appearances this season, while 10 teams will have at least 25 national TV appearances. Both are records according to the league. But of course, the Knicks’ transcendent success also gave the league a huge boost.
Moving forward, the league must know it will still take time for fans to adjust to the new paradigm. With games on network, cable, and streaming platforms, fans, and even some of its most influential television voices, need to get used to the new weekly flow. The league is pursuing new initiatives like its Tap to Watch program and a partnership with X to make games more accessible. But it won’t be an easy, overnight fix, as fragmentation remains one of the biggest obstacles for modern-day sports fans.
The league will lean on all its available tools to expand its reach and bring more fans on board, building on last year’s growth. That includes viewership data, social media analytics, and even AI insights on which storylines are working and which dates make sense for the calendar now and in the future. The league and its partners made meaningful progress in the first year of the new media deals in repairing relationships with fans. Now it will be up to them to keep listening to fans in year two and beyond.
“Seeing how this evolves in the next few years is certainly something that’s worth watching. Wins and losses ultimately drive a lot of the direction of where our coverage goes and where our scheduling goes. We’ll see where fans want to drive us towards and where we want to lean in and celebrate more,” Benedict said.
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