NBA commissioner Adam Silver finds himself juggling one of the most complicated stretches of his tenure, reshaping how fans watch basketball in a rapidly shifting media landscape.
Silver has also been focused on what he calls the NBA’s biggest transformation since cable TV – the $77 billion national broadcast deal that ends the league’s decades-long partnership with TNT and introduces new partners NBC/Peacock and Amazon’s Prime Video.
Charles Barkley has claimed that the fragmentation of the game will be damaging.
Silver’s response (via Sports Illustrated)
“I accept Charles’s point that there will be disruption in the short term. I think, over time, technology is clearly our friend here. Just by way of example, through the NBA app, which is free to download, you will be able to have a front door into every game on any service that’s carrying the NBA. We recognize the transition will be an issue and for fans who are used to finding the NBA on TNT. Obviously, we won’t be there.”
He added, “We need to help direct them to where our games will be located. I also think there’s an ongoing shakeout in the media industry. There will be, no doubt, additional aggregation of some of the streaming services now. I think it’s too early to conclude how easy or not it’ll be for consumers. My sense is that over time the consumer/fans generally win in a market economy. And the market and the media companies will respond to what the fans want. Because it’s of course not in our interest to create services that fans find it too difficult to subscribe to.
“I don’t want to be Pollyannaish,” he continued. “I mean, the fact that we’re going from one paradigm that had been in place now for two decades and are going to be adding two new partners and replacing one, we’re going to have to reeducate the fans on where to find the games. Also, as part of ESPN’s app, they made a company decision that they wouldn’t only promote their own networks. This goes to the point of a competitive marketplace and wanting to be fan friendly. They want sports fans to know if a game is on Fox or a game is on CBS.”
READ MORE: Could Bam Adebayo Leave Miami & Spark Huge Bidding War?