ESPN has secured its position as the primary NBA rights holder in the region following a ‘landmark’ 11-year extension with the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association.
Beginning from the 2025-26 season through to the 2035-36 season, the long-term deal sees the NBA and WNBA continue as mainstay programming on ESPN in Australia and New Zealand.
ESPN is the exclusive broadcast partner for around 240 regular season NBA games, an enhanced game package for the First and Second Round of the NBA Playoffs, all NBA Conference Finals, and NBA Finals games.
The WNBA coverage will extend across the WNBA regular season and WNBA Playoffs, including WNBA Semi Final and WNBA Finals series.
ESPN will continue to provide full coverage of the NBA and WNBA All-Star Weekends as well as the NBA Draft and WNBA Draft.
ESPN has also strengthened rights to expand its NBA studio coverage via new whip-around programming on nights that ESPN is televising games, including the ability to establish enhanced game access, player arrivals, and interviews.
Additionally, rights include highlighting live action from around the league with real-time highlights, live cut-ins, produced features, and breakdowns from leading ESPN analysts.
“ESPN remains the Home for Hoops in Australia and New Zealand and our continued strength in basketball is a big win for fans,” said Kylie Watson-Wheeler, senior vice president and managing director, The Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand and head of ESPN, APAC.
“ESPN is committed to bringing all the NBA and WNBA action to our highly engaged audiences through our new rights agreement over the long term, coupled with even more hoops programing including NBL, WNBL, NCAA and Australian Boomers, and Opals.”
ESPN’s Australian and New Zealand new NBA agreement comes off the back of a Prime Video, NBA, and WNBA deal that will see the streamer present exclusive global coverage of 66 regular-season NBA games, including an opening week doubleheader, a new Black Friday NBA game, and all games from the Knockout Rounds of the Emirates NBA Cup, including the in-season tournament’s Semifinals and Finals.
The Prime Video media agreement is in place for 11 years, beginning with the 2025-26 NBA season.