With the NBA’s nine-year media rights extension finally kicking in, the league will have added exposure on all three of its national TV partners next season.
ESPN, ABC and TNT will combine for 164 nationally televised NBA games during the 2016-17 season, 18 more than last season (146). In particular, ESPN will air 82 games (up from 77), TNT 64 (up from 53) and ABC 18 (up from 16). The ESPN and TNT totals are network records, while ABC is airing its largest number of games in a season since 2007-08 (19).
The tonnage is the result of the NBA’s new television deal, which assigned ESPN/ABC ten additional games and TNT twelve. While ESPN/ABC worked its ten extra games into its existing rotation of Wednesday, Friday and weekend games, TNT has added a new night to its NBA line-up — Mondays.
As previously announced in May, TNT will air a weekly slate of Monday night games after the end of the NFL season, starting with a Martin Luther King Day doubleheader of Cavaliers/Warriors and Thunder/Clippers. The network will carry 19 Monday night games, including nine doubleheaders.
With the Monday games included, there will be weeks in which NBA games air nationally on six of seven days — Saturday (ABC), Sunday (ABC), Monday (TNT), Wednesday (ESPN), Thursday (TNT) and Friday (ESPN).
The 2016-17 season begins with the defending champion Cavaliers hosting the Knicks on TNT, followed by Spurs/Warriors. ESPN opens its season the following night with the Sixers making their first national TV appearance in three years, hosting the Thunder.
The marquee Christmas Day quintupleheader will be highlighted by a NBA Finals rematch between the Warriors and Cavaliers. Though the featured game of the day, Warriors/Cavaliers will air in ABC’s early window of 2:30 PM ET so as to avoid NFL competition. Bulls/Spurs will air in the 5 PM ET window, airing opposite Ravens/Steelers on NFL Network. Outside of Christmas, the game of the season figures to be Warriors/Thunder on ABC February 11, the return of former Thunder F Kevin Durant to Oklahoma City.
The full NBA schedule is available here.
