After a report earlier today from John Ourand of Puck said ESPN and the NBA “have essentially come to terms on a package,” a new report from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand says Amazon Prime Video will be one of at least three main players in the overall NBA media rights package.

Marchand reports the NBA and Amazon “have the framework of a deal,” and that it will include “significant regular season and postseason games, perhaps even conference finals.” With the current agreement expiring after next season, it is expected the Amazon deal would start in 2025-26.

Ourand’s reporting suggests Warner Bros. Discovery has had “productive” talks with the league. Marchand mentions NBC and WBD potentially battling to be the third partner or the potential of the NBA partnering with four outlets. It is believed ESPN will have around 20 regular season games cut from its package to make room for at least an additional partner, but Disney will keep the NBA Finals on ABC.

The expectation is that new NBA media rights deals will be for a 10-year period. The league is looking to grow on the $2.6 billion average per year it is getting now from ESPN and TNT Sports.

Comcast’s Peacock added 3 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2024, which was helped by the exclusive airing of the Chiefs-Dolphins playoff game, the company said in its earnings report this week. The report also said revenue increased 54% year over year from $685 million to $1.1 billion. In total, Peacock lost $639 million compared to a loss of $704 million the prior year.

“Peacock remains one of the fastest growing domestic streamers with impressive acquisition, retention and engagement trends,” Chief Executive Brian Roberts said in a release. 

In total, Peacock subscribers have climbed 55% year over year to reach 34 million. While domestic advertising revenue was flat, the expectation is the upcoming Paris Olympics will boost the advertising dollars for the year.

The Chiefs-Dolphins game on Saturday January 15 was the most streamed event ever in the United States, drawing 23 million viewers. Engagement with the playoff game accounted for the largest internet event in history, according to this data, with 30% of internet traffic prioritizing the game.

The first podcast festival in America devoted solely to sports content is coming to Raleigh, North Carolina on August 24, 2024. Produced by September Creative, The Sports Podcast Festival Presented by Breeze Thru will feature three shows.

Popular national shows The Shutdown Fullcast and Hand in the Dirt will join one of North Carolina’s fastest-growing shows, Ovies & Giglio, live on stage to celebrate a new college football season.

“Shows like the three that will be on our stage are why sports fans flock to podcasts,” said September Creative founder Demetri Ravanos. “They deserve their own party and we’re going to throw it! What we did was look for shows that had significant audience crossover with one another. I truly don’t think we could have asked for a better lineup in year one.”

The Sports Podcast Festival will take place at the recently refurbished Rialto Theater.

“Working with Demetri to bring The Sports Podcast Festival here is perfectly in line with our vision,” said Rialto Theater owner Hayes Permar. “We can’t wait to build and grow this into an incredible annual event. But most importantly, we have a bunch of really cool people from the sports world coming and also Joe Ovies.”

Joe Ovies is one half of Ovies & Giglio, which will open The Sports Podcast Festival. He and partner Joe Giglio left Raleigh radio last year and launched their podcast which has already reached nearly 2 million people. 

Next in the lineup for The Sports Podcast Festival is Hand in the Dirt. The hosts, Michael Felder, Michael Surber, and Stephen Hartzell, describe their show as a “gardening podcast about football,” which mixes talk about being a dad and owning a home with serious college football conversation. 

Headlining The Sports Podcast Festival is The Shutdown Fullcast. Billing itself as “the internet’s only college football podcast,” the show, hosted by Holly Anderson, Spencer Hall, Jason Kirk, and Ryan Nanni, garners millions of downloads each year.

Tickets for The Sports Podcast Festival go on sale on Saturday, May 25 via eTix. For more information, including announcements about other events surrounding the festival, follow @SportsPodFest on Instagram and X.