Upcoming NBA TV deals will make NFL want more
The NBA is closing in on new TV deals that could double the value of their current ones. The NFL is surely watching.
The more that networks and/or streamers can afford to pay the NBA, the more they can afford to pay to the NFL.
NBC, case in point, is reportedly willing to pay the NBA $2.5 billion per year for a package of games. That'll make the NFL drool like Homer Simpson at a donut the size of a life preserver.
Remember, NFL can abandon the current TV deals after the 2029 season. Between the plan to expand to 18 games and the increase in the value of NBA rights, the NFL surely will pull the plug and ask for more.
And, frankly, the NFL can do it. Nothing gathers a live audience like NFL football. There's immense value in that. The networks know it. The NFL knows it.
If anything, the networks should be glad that the NFL can't put a thumb on the scale for five more years. Not that the NFL won't find a way to try.
