Stern: League Won’t Sell NBA TV
But NBA Commissioner Says League May Let Turner Operate Network
By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 10/26/2007 2:30:00 AM
The National Basketball Association will not sell its NBA TV network along with its digital assets to Turner Sports or other suitors, but rather will look for strategic partners to help run and manage those properties, according to NBA commissioner David Stern.
Stern, in an interview with Multichannel News, confirmed that the league is talking to Turner about creating a partnership that would allow Turner to operate the network’s 12-million subscriber NBA TV, as well as some of the league’s digital assets, including its NBA.com website.
“We’re not talking about a sale of the assets,” he said. “We’re talking about a joint venture where the ownership of the assets would remain with us, but [a partner] would be responsible for operating them and they would share in the profits based on various benchmarks.”
Turner Sports president David Levy said Wednesday that there were no new developments in its talks with the league.
Stern said the league is bullish on the revenue potential from digital distribution of video content, including game highlights, player interviews and game footage through a myriad of platforms it controls, including its NBA wireless, NBA.com online, and NBA video on demand services.
“We believe that there will be moderate growth in our core business domestically, but we expect significant growth in the next several years through our international and digital business,” he said “We’re watching the way sponsors are looking to move into digital content, and we have a multiplatform opportunity with a strong content and a strong community to reach out to, so we think we’re particularly well suited for digital growth.”
But Stern said the league has no plans to offer a stand-alone package of live online games similar to those offered by Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. Currently, only subscribers of the league’s NBA League Pass linear, out-of-market game package can watch live games on the web.
“I’m from the old school, and as such I ultimately see some degree of cannibalization [of the television product through the web,]” he said. “So that’s why we’re testing now but we haven’t taken the next step.”
Despite a tumultuous summer that saw veteran Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to fixing NBA games and saw New York Knicks frontmen Jim Dolan and Isaiah Thomas lose a very public and nasty sexual harassment case, Stern said the league is in good shape going into next week’s start of the 2007-08 season.
“The response from our network partners, our regional sports network partners for television, our sponsors and from our fans with respect to ticket sales are all very positive,” Stern said. “It doesn’t eliminate the issues, but I think our fans have very much stayed the course.”
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