Only days after helping the National Football League negotiate an eight-year, $12 billion contract extension with DirecTV, Covington & Burling assisted the National Basketball Association on its nine-year, $24 billion broadcast rights agreement with ESPN and Turner Broadcasting System.
The Walt Disney Co. owns ESPN, while rival entertainment conglomerate Time Warner controls TBS. While exact financial terms of the combined deals were not disclosed, The New York Times reports that the NBA will almost double the amount it receives each year in rights fees to $2.66 billion from $930 million under the new accord, which starts at the beginning of the 2016-17 season.
