Turner Broadcasting System and the NBA announced a major expansion of the longest-running league/network programming partnership in professional sports. The new domestic digital rights relationship will allow TBS and the NBA to further enrich the fan experience through NBA assets that complement the current NBA programming airing on Turner’s TNT. The partnership will be fully effective for the 2008-09 NBA season and run through the 2015-16 season.
David Levy, president of Turner Broadcasting Sales, Inc. and president of Turner Sports, and Adam Silver, NBA Deputy Commissioner and COO, will jointly manage the venture and will appoint a General Manager responsible for the oversight of the NBA digital businesses.
TBS will assume responsibility for programming, marketing and technical operations of NBA TV; will host and operate the NBA.com Network, which includes NBA.com, WNBA.com and NBADLeague.com; will operate NBA League Pass, the league’s out-of-market game package, and the NBA’s broadband and wireless businesses.
TBS, Inc. and the NBA will jointly sell advertising for all of the digital assets; On-air talent from NBA on TNT and TNT’s Inside the NBA will appear on NBA TV; NBA Entertainment, the league’s production and programming arm, will continue to provide content for all of the NBA’s digital businesses.
The current TNT-NBA national television agreement extends their partnership through 2016, for a record 32 years.
