ESPN, NBC, and Amazon are reportedly finalizing the NBA’s media rights valued at over $7 billion a year, effective from the 2025-26 season. As a result, the contracts in the league will undergo an unimaginable amount of uptick. In that wake, Shaquille O’Neal agreed that an elite player can earn as much as $95 million per year with the increasing media rights value. Shaq took to his Instagram stories and shared a graphic with this information.
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It stated, “NBA players could make up to $95 million a year on a supermax contracts if the potential NBA media rights deal $7B annual media rights deal is finalized”.
The post had a picture of 2024 ROTY Victor Wembanyama predicting a hefty payday for the potential superstar.
Shaq shares a graphic predicting future NBA contracts pic.twitter.com/dNy2kHDNq0
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) May 24, 2024
Spotrac contributor Keith Smith confirmed the validity of this prediction. He expects the cap space to rise as much as 10% from the 2025-26 season onwards. As a result, by the end of the 2028-29 season, the cap space can hit the 200$ million mark, paving the way for $95 million per year deals.
Some fun numbers!
The NBA getting $7B per year for media rights will likely lock in 10% cap growth (that is the max the cap can go up) per season starting in 2025-26.
If so, the cap will top $200M in the 2028-29 season. A 35% max salary that year projects to be $72M.
The…
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 22, 2024
ESPN NBA Front Office Insider Bobby Marks speculated future contracts for the superstars, who will be eligible for a supermax extension in the 2025 offseason. He relayed that Luka Doncic, who will be eligible before the 2025-26 season, can end up nabbing a four-year, $346 million contract effective from the 2026-27 season onwards.
Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is also expected to clinch a four-year, $294 million deal during the 2025 offseason. His supermax contract will kick off from the 2027-28 season and he can become the first NBA athlete to earn more than $80 million a year by the 2030-31 season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is now eligible to sign a super max extension in the 2025 offseason.
He would be the first player to earn $80M+ in one season. pic.twitter.com/E5yHzGse3b
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) May 22, 2024
However, the current media rights deal is still in murky waters. While Warner Bros. Discovery has been hesitant to empty their pockets for the historical media rights deal, they still have a chance to match the amount by NBC Universal.
Will Warner Bros. Universal relinquish NBA broadcasting rights?
NBA’s current media rights deal amounts to around $24 billion. After the new ones kick in, they expect a windfall of $76 million in 11 years. While Amazon and Disney, which owns ESPN, are considered a lock as the two broadcasting partners, NBC Universal is expected to edge out Warner Bros. Discovery as the third partner.
WBD, which owns Turner Sports, may be on the cusp of losing its media rights after being a part of the NBA broadcasting affairs since 1989.
This could mean the end of the ‘Inside the NBA’ which has been a fan-favorite for multiple decades. This is a huge jolt for many NBA fans since they have been used to watching the quartet of Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson.
Charles Barkley recently opened up about becoming a “free agent” after the 2025-26 season and expressed concerns for the show’s crew. If NBC Universal becomes the third broadcasting partner, will they look to resurrect the show on their platform?
