The new NBA media deals are done—extending contracts with The Walt Disney Company’s ESPN and ABC and Turner Broadcasting’s TNT through the 2015-16 season. The broadcast rights are essentially the same as they have been for the past five years. The most significant change overall is what NBA Commissioner David Stern calls “an additional robust grant of digital rights to enhance the experience of our fans in ways that ESPN, ABC and TNT have done to some small degree with our properties.” The mobile/wireless rights include simulcasting and on-demand. ESPN EVP John Skipper also stressed: “We have extensive rights that we can exploit on mobile platforms relative to highlights.” The networks’ new rights allow some use across platforms and services, including distribution of highlights to third parties.

One way of measuring the change: during the conference call, Stern was asked by a reporter if the digital rights were worth more than the broadcast rights. His reply: “I can say that they are not, but I can say that they are very valuable because the growth and exploration that is necessary can’t take place without robust grants on the rights—and robust utilization and extension of those rights.”

More details in the release and on our sister site paidContent.org.