NBC is in the first year of an 11-year, $27 billion deal with the NBA. Already, there are conversations in media circles about how the deal could complicate NBC’s future with its most valuable partner, the NFL.
Even before the season began, some NBC executives raised concerns. Theytold The Wall Street Journalthe deal "is going to be a money loser in the near term."
"All of these deals lose money discretely," NBCU executive Dave Pietrycha, who worked on the NBA deal, added.
When the NBA deal was announced, OutKick questioned NBC's decision to drastically overpay for a league that has lost roughly half its audience since 2012. For context, NBC's streaming business was already deep in the red.
Last month, NBCU reported that Peacock lost $552 million in Q4 2025, a 48% increase in losses from Q4 2024.
Over the weekend, Status financial reporter Brian Laweywrotethat NBC may not be able to carry those losses much longer. After speaking with former executives and current employees, Lawey predicted Comcast may eventually have to sell its streaming assets or merge with a company such as Paramount Skydance.
"They know they have to buy or sell, and [CEO] Brian [Roberts] has never been a seller," Lawey wrote.
Media reporter John Ourand said last week that the NBA agreement "irritated" league executives. For background, NBC is paying about $2.5 billion per year for the NBA and roughly $2 billion per year for the NFL.
"Executives at the NFL are irritated. That deal irritated them," OurandtoldAndrew Marchand. "The idea that NBC is paying more for Sunday Night Basketball than for Sunday Night Football. These are people and personalities, and it makes the executives at the NFL crazy that that happens. So could they come in and just start to turn the screw because of that NBA deal?"
A strained relationship with the NFL is particularly concerning for NBC, given that the league is expected to opt out of its current media deals in 2029.
Source: The Latest & Most Breaking News With OutKick
