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NBC is ready to play ball once again. The Comcast-backed broadcast network is preparing a bid for certain national telecast rights to National Basketball Association (NBA) games for around $2.5 billion per year, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal on Monday. The report comes as the NBA is exploring different avenues for offering pro-basketball games over the next decade as the current national rights package shared by the Walt Disney Company’s ESPN and Warner Bros Discovery’s (WBD) TNT Sports comes to an end. A stipulation in Disney and WBD’s current contracts with the league allowed them to negotiate an extension or new deal for national telecast rights. That window of exclusivity closed last week; according to media reports, Disney was able to secure a new deal that offers some national NBA telecasts for its ESPN and ABC television networks, which leaves the TNT Sports broadcasts up for grabs. WBD is still negotiating toward a national telecast deal, though it isn’t clear if the company is willing to pay more than the $1.2 billion they currently spend on the rights to air basketball games. Their agreement with the NBA ended prior to this season’s NBA playoffs, which are currently being broadcast on ABC and ESPN.
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