Sports
The NBA and WNBA Return to NBCUniversal with 11-Year Agreement for Regular Season and Playoff Basketball on NBC, Peacock, USA Network, Sky Sports, and Telemundo
NBCUniversal and the NBA today announced an 11-year agreement for NBC, Peacock, USA Network, Sky Sports and Telemundo to present NBA and WNBA regular-season and playoff basketball games beginning with the 2025-26 season.
“We are excited to once again become long-term partners with the NBA and WNBA, as well as USA Basketball,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBCU Media Group. “With a unique presentation plan across NBCUniversal platforms during the regular season and postseason, as well as the midseason tentpole All-Star Game and events of All-Star Saturday, we have a strong slate that will help supercharge our overall content strategy across the portfolio.”
“The return of NBA basketball to the NBC Sports family comes with enormous benefits and excitement for our fans,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “And through its multiple platforms – especially NBC and Peacock – and its expansive resources, NBCUniversal promises to build on the deep tradition and history of the NBA on NBC.”
“Returning to NBCU at a time when momentum around the WNBA and women’s basketball has never been higher presents numerous opportunities to engage with new fans and grow the league’s core audience,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “We look forward to bringing WNBA games to NBCU’s vast audiences on its networks and platforms, which will not only help elevate the league but also enhance the storytelling of the WNBA’s incredible athletes.”
With the new agreement, NBCUniversal will create distinctive programming windows:
NBC Sports will continue its nearly two-decade tradition of premium Sunday night sports with a new Sunday Night Basketball NBA series at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, which will begin following the NFL Playoffs. NBC Sports will present a one-hour pregame show leading up to tip-off each Sunday night. NBC’s Sunday Night Football, which debuted in 2006, has been primetime’s #1 show for an unprecedented 13 consecutive years.
Peacock will bolster its best-in-class sports lineup with approximately 50 exclusive regular-season and postseason NBA games, featuring national Monday regular-season NBA games each week and Monday night doubleheaders beginning later in the season, and exclusive playoff games.
In addition, NBCUniversal will present a pair of Monday NBA games on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January.
Each Tuesday, NBC Sports will present a unique NBA regular-season doubleheader – with start times at 8 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. PT. NBC will broadcast both games, with the 8 p.m. ET games on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones and the 8 p.m. PT game typically on NBC stations in the Mountain and Pacific time zones. Peacock will stream both games live.
NBC Sports will be the home of the first games each NBA season with an opening night Tuesday doubleheader on NBC and Peacock.
Each year, NBCUniversal will showcase at least 50 WNBA games in the regular season and early postseason. NBC will broadcast five of those games, with USA Network and Peacock splitting the balance.
Deeper into the postseason, NBCUniversal will present three WNBA Finals series and games from seven WNBA Semi-Finals series over the 11 years.
With this agreement, NBCUniversal also acquires the rights to Team USA Men’s and Women’s games leading into the Olympics in 2028, ’32, and ’36, as well as women’s pre-FIBA World Cup games (’26, ’30, and ’34) and men’s pre-FIBA World Cup games (’27, ’31 and ’35), the majority of which will be exclusive to Peacock. In addition, NBC Sports will present the Nike Hoop Summit, featuring men’s and women’s international all-star games for players 19 years old and younger, which will be televised on USA Network each April, beginning in 2025.
Telemundo Deportes, the U.S. destination for the biggest global sporting events in Spanish-language, will present 10 games each season -- including the All-Star Game -- which will also stream on Peacock.
Sky Sports, in all of its markets, will distribute all of NBCUniversal’s NBA and WNBA games.
Xfinity becomes a marketing partner in the “Video” category with USA Basketball, NBA, and the WNBA.
NBC Sports was the home of the NBA from 1990-2002, presenting the four most-watched NBA Finals series in People Meter history – all victories by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls (1998, 1993, 1997, and 1996). Before then, NBC broadcast NBA games from 1954-62. NBC Sports presented the WNBA from 1997-2002, with coverage of the WNBA Finals and championship game in each of those years.