With the NBA’s return to its grid after 23 years, the American broadcaster NBC wants more than broadcasting games – wants to recover the cultural connection that marked the golden age of basketball in the 1990s. For this, it has a trump card: it has signed a contract nothing less than with Michael Jordan, basketball legend and the league’s main face in that period.
The former player will participate as a special collaborator in the 2025-26 season broadcasts, in a movement is part of the new league media agreement, which remodels the map of sports broadcasts in the United States.
NBC is part of the new NBA media rights agreement, announced this month, which also includes Disney (ESPN/ABC) and Amazon Prime Video. The 11 -year -old contract is valued at about $ 76 billion (equivalent to $ 430 billion).
The station will broadcast games regularly on Mondays (exclusively on Peacock), Tuesdays (NBC/Peacock) and Sundays at night from January. It will also have rights to the All-Star Game and one of the confrontations of the conference finals in six of the 11th anniversary of the agreement.
Michael Jordan paper
The contract with Michael Jordan foresees his participation in recorded segments that will be displayed during pre-game programs and matches. All the details of the former player’s performance have not yet been defined, but NBC said he is directly involved in the discussions about the format of his collaboration.
This is the first time Jordan formally participating in the coverage of a broadcaster. The last time he appeared prominently in sports media was in the documentary “The Last Dance”, released in 2020.
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Reorganization
The new media agreement marks a significant reorganization in the distribution of NBA broadcasts. Disney will continue with the league finals and approximately 80 games per season. Amazon Prime Video will broadcast 66 regular season matches, as well as play-in and playoffs.
With the new configuration, Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT), the league’s longtime partner, will be out of the main broadcast package, ending a ratio of almost 40 years with the NBA.
In addition to Jordan, NBC has already announced part of its broadcast team. Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle will be the main narrators. Carmelo Anthony will be in the studio while Jamal Crawford and Reggie Miller will act as game commentators. The “Roundball Rock” soundtrack, a trademark of NBC coverage in the 1990s, will also be reused.
