Your NBA Season 2024/25 Guide
All you need to know heading into the NBA season, from new domestic media rights, the upcoming sale of the Celtics and more
NBA returns in full force
The NBA is back! After rather anti-climactic finals last season, we were blessed with some amazing basketball at the Olympics, with an all-time heater of Steph Curry in the semi-finals and gold medal game.
The NBA returns on Tuesday, 22 October, with a banger. The defending champs Boston Celtics take on their rival and serious challenger from the Big Apple, the New York Knicks. But before we get there, let’s quickly have a look at what happened in a busy offseason for the NBA, from new TV deals, to intriguing player movements.
Here are the main things to know about the NBA to get ready for the new season.
New Media Rights Deal
The big headline of the offseason was not related to anything on the court, but rather the new 11-year $76bn domestic media rights deal the NBA inked with incumbent Walt Disney (ESPN, ABC) and newcomers NBC and Amazon Prime Video that starts in the 2025-26 season.
This new deal solidifies the NBA’s position as the second biggest sports league in the world from a revenue perspective, though still a distant second to the NFL. The deal is also a major step up from its previous 9-year $24bn deal that runs out at end of this season. On a per year value, this is a 2.5x increase of the annual domestic media rights value from $2.67bn to $6.91bn. This is a significant increase, though not uncommon when looking at the last few deals.
Walt Disney has the most significant package (incl. the Finals), paying $2.6bn annually, followed by NBC’s $2.5bn annual package and Amazon with the smallest of the three packages at $1.8bn. Of note is the non-renewal with long-time partner Warner Bros (Turner Media), who was outbid by NBC for its package. Warner Bros. exercised its matching rights for the Amazon package, but they will most likely not be successful, given they cannot match the depth of Prime Video’s streaming offering, which is central to that package.
The NBA managed to reach a surprisingly high deal value, given significant cost pressures many other premier media rights are experiencing in the industry (e.g. European Football). It is doubly impressive that they reached such a high value, given the declining regular season (avg. of 1.92m in ‘16/’17 to an avg. of 1.59m in ‘22/’23) and finals ratings (avg. of 20.2m in ‘16/’17 to an avg. of 11.3m in ‘23/’24) the NBA has seen in recent years.
In the end, the NBA benefitted majorly from multiple broadcasters vying for limited packages, creating a sort of bidding war, as well as much of the NBA’s value is in its young audience segment (average age of viewer in the NBA is 42, 50 in the NFL and 57 in the MLB).
The defending Champs
While there is team continuity and stability on the hardwood floor for the Celtics, it is looking quite different on the ownership front. The Celtics ownership group around majority holder Wyc Grousbeck has put the team up for sale shortly after a record-extending 18th title for the team.
It is not often that a sports franchise of such great historical significance is available, naturally garnering interest from various parties (including supposedly Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as well as current minority owner Steve Pagliuca). The diligence process on the financials of the team is nearly complete, with the bidding process to commence within the next month.
Sportico values the team at around $5.1bn now, with Grousbeck having bought the team back in 2002 for $360 million (a solid investment I would say). This is probably also the range in which the team will be sold, given it does not own its own arena. With the NBA seeking two new expansion franchises in the next few season (the least well-guarded secret) in Las Vegas and Seattle, they are hoping for the as high a bid as possible. This would push up the expansion fees for these two franchises, which they are hoping to push closer to $6bn.
The James father-son duo
LeBron James (in his 22nd season) and his son Bronny James will make history when they become the first father-son duo sharing the court together for the same NBA team, when the Los Angeles Lakers face the Minnesota Timberwolves on opening night.
Bronny was controversially drafted with pick #55 by the Lakers, with only few considering him NBA ready. Playing on the first team on opening night will do little to quench that discourse. It is very likely that LeBron wants to push through this historic moment and thereafter Bronny will spend time in the G-League to develop into an NBA prospect.
Former player, podcaster and now first-time head coach JJ Redick is not to be envied here. As per usual, it will not get boring anytime soon with respect to the Lakers and LeBron.
Player movement
The free agency during the offseason has become a bit of a spectacle in and of itself for the NBA in recent years, with a number of fans more interested in the player movement drama than the actual games. However, it has been a quieter free agency than usual, as many teams are hesitant and afraid of exceeding the second apron of the salary cap, which would severely limit their ability to trade thereafter.
Nevertheless, some notable stars still ended up moving teams, with Paul George from the LA Clippers going to the Philadelphia 76ers, Klay Thompson leaving his longtime Warriors running mates Steph Curry and Draymond Green to join up with Doncic in Dallas, as well as Knicks going all-in by trading for both Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges.
A new gold standard for basketball arenas
The richest owner in the NBA, Clippers owner Steve Balmer (former Microsoft CEO), has spared no expense in his newly built $2bn high-tech NBA arena in Los Angeles, the Intuit Dome.
It is filled to the brim with all kinds of tech gimmicks, including charging ports at every seat, contactless everything, from entry, to concessions buying, as well as a full 360-degree scoreboard above the floor. They will even be able to identify which fans are the loudest on average during the entire game and offer them rewards in return, such as fan shop discounts or a free meal/drink.
The venue looks incredible, and as the nearby SoFi stadium did for the NFL, will set the standard for NBA arenas to come. There will also be a complementary shuttle service from five major LA county transit centers to ease the traffic and access to the venue. In a first big announcement, the venue was already selected to host the basketball games at the 2028 LA Olympics.
But who will actually come out on top?
The defending champions Celtics remain the odds-on favorite to repeat, but the competition has gotten a lot stiffer this year, especially in their Eastern Conference. The Knicks and the 76ers have loaded up (as noted previously) and are going all in to bring the Larry O’Brien trophy back to their cities after a long drought.
The West remains a blood bath as ever, with the Oklahoma City Thunder the biggest threat to come out of it, followed closely by the Denver Nuggets (with 3x MVP Jokic), the Minnesota Timberwolves (with shooting star Anthony Edwards) and the Dallas Mavericks (with scoring title winner and MVP favorite Luka Doncic).
One random fact
Steph Curry is the highest paid player in the 2024-25 season at $55.8m. The salary cap will continue to increase, particularly after the dramatically increased domestic media rights deal, and with it the max contract values; it will not be long before we get close to a player making $100m+ in a season
Thanks for reading
I hope you enjoyed this warm-up for the new NBA season and gained a new-found appreciation for the business dealings of especially the new domestic media rights deal. Tune in for an exciting season opener on Tuesday 22 October! If you have enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends and subscribing, much appreciated!
