NBA on Amazon Prime: Basketball moves to streaming with new games, in-season tournament

Amazon Prime Video has reached an agreement with the National Basketball Association (NBA) for broadcast rights, marking a significant shift in how fans will access professional basketball content starting in the 2025-26 season.

NBA announces 11-year rights deal with Disney, NBCUniversal, Amazon

The 11-year deal positions Prime Video as an exclusive streaming platform for a portion of NBA games and related content. This agreement extends to the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), with coverage beginning in 2026.

Highlights of the new broadcast rights deal include: 

• Prime Video will exclusively stream 66 regular-season NBA games per season
• Coverage includes an opening-week doubleheader and a new Black Friday game
• All games from the Knockout Rounds of the Emirates NBA Cup will be streamed
• Prime Video gains rights to the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament
• The service will stream first- and second-round playoff games
• Conference Finals coverage is included in six of the 11 years
• International distribution rights are part of the package, with expanded offerings in select territories
• Prime Video Channels becomes the global channels store for NBA League Pass
• WNBA coverage includes 30 regular-season games and select postseason matches

The agreement represents a continuation of Prime Video’s expansion into live sports broadcasting. Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said the NBA and WNBA content will be “a major driver of Prime Video’s evolution into a genuine one-stop shop for everything our customers want in video.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver noted the potential for increased fan engagement, stating that Prime Video’s “massive subscriber base will dramatically expand our ability to reach our fans in new and innovative ways.”

The deal also includes provisions for WNBA content. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the partnership with Amazon “will now be a significant contributor to the long-term sustainability of the WNBA for the players, league, and teams.”

As streaming platforms continue to compete for sports rights, this deal positions Amazon as a major player in basketball broadcasting for the coming decade.

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