The NBA closed the 2025-2026 season with a record US$2.11 billion in advertising revenue, a 38% increase from the US$1.53 billion recorded a year earlier. The result marks the first major commercial impact of the league’s new media rights agreements, which expanded the presence of its games across broadcast television and streaming platforms. At the same time, audience growth increased the value of advertising space and allowed the league to significantly boost its revenue in this segment.
The changing media landscape has also altered how fans access games. The arrival of new partners such as Prime Video, together with the involvement of Disney through ABC and ESPN and NBC Sports, reduced the weight of cable-exclusive broadcasts and moved more games to platforms with potentially broader reach. The 2025-2026 season ended with an average audience of 1.78 million viewers per game, 16% more than the 1.53 million recorded the previous season, a growth that helps explain why advertisers were willing to pay more to reach the league’s audience.
New media rights deals increase the value of advertising
The increase in advertising revenue is closely linked to the behavior of CPM, a metric that measures how much advertisers pay for every 1,000 ad impressions. As the NBA’s audience grew, so did the value of each advertising slot. In this context, the new media rights agreements not only expanded distribution channels but also created a more attractive environment for brands looking to associate themselves with one of the leading sports properties in the United States.
The results also show the specific weight acquired by each of the new partners. ABC and ESPN accounted for 39% of the NBA’s advertising sales, with US$824.5 million, while NBC Sports reached US$782.2 million. Prime Video, in its first collaboration with the league, generated US$507.4 million in sales. The distribution between traditional television and streaming reflects a transformation that goes beyond where games are broadcast: it also reshapes how audiences are commercialized and how much value can be extracted from them.
More games on broadcast television and a growing audience
The NBA’s expansion on broadcast television was particularly visible during the 2025-2026 season. The league aired 62 regular-season games on traditional broadcast television, compared with the 24 games that received this exposure the previous season. NBC broadcast 39 games and ABC another 23, increasing the number of games available to viewers who do not rely on an exclusive cable subscription or specific sports packages.
The strategy will continue to expand next season, when the NBA plans to bring 71 regular-season games to broadcast television. NBC will increase its schedule to 50 games, while ABC will broadcast another 21. This greater access comes at a time when the average audience had already reached 1.78 million viewers per game in 2025-2026. The growth in television exposure is also part of a broader commercial strategy for the league, which includes new revenue streams and international expansion. In Europe, the NBA is preparing for the possible launch of a 16-franchise competition in October 2027, with a model that could include entry fees of between €500 million and €1 billion per team and new media rights agreements associated with the market.
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