On the eve of the NBA basketball season, US media giant Disney has furthered its global coverage of the competition, striking long-term media rights deals in 11 European markets.
This new agreement with the league spans the Baltic region (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia.
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Beginning immediately, this agreement will run through the 2035-36 campaign, including regular-season games, postseason playoff and NBA Finals coverage, and select special events throughout the year, including the annual NBA Draft, some pre-season NBA Summer League action, and more.
This slate, covering the same matches across each market, will be produced by Disney's US sports broadcast arm ESPN, and covers Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday night matchups.
Disney+ will host NBA action on its ESPN content area at no extra cost to existing subscribers.
Sportcal (GlobalData Sport) understands that these rights will not interfere with the incumbent primary broadcasters in each market, which will carry different NBA packages.
Indeed, in these 11 markets, Disney will alternate the broadcast of the season-ending NBA finals on an annual basis with the incumbent broadcaster in each of these markets, with Disney beginning the yearly rotation in the 2026-27 season, with the rights returning in 2028/29, 2030/31, 2032/33 and 2034/35.
Agreements in these markets also do not concern the parcel of rights held in both countries (and over 200 markets globally) by streaming service Prime Video (upwards of 66 games per year).
The addition of the NBA follows the recent launch of the ESPN sports broadcasting brand on Disney+ to select markets across Europe.
The wider lineup also features college sports such as the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments (March Madness), college football playoffs, and bowl games, as well as other sports rights in select markets, most recent of those being NHL ice hockey in the Nordics.
The most prominent players from markets covered by the deal are undoubtedly Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic of Slovenia, and new Miami Heat acquisition Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece.
Jaxson Hayes of the Utah Jazz is another who represents the Slovenian national team as a naturalized player.
The most prominent Baltic players in the NBA at the moment are Lithuania’s Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento Kings) and Latvia’s Kristaps Porziņģis (Golden State Warriors), while 20-year-old Lithuanian prospect Kasparas Jakučionis of the Milwaukee Bucks is another of importance to the market.
The league’s sole Estonian representative at present is newly drafted Atlanta Hawk Henri Veesaar, although an ACL injury in September means that the 2026 second-round draft pick will miss the entire 2026-27 campaign.
Boston Celtics center Neemias Quenta is Portugal’s sole NBA representative at present, having become the first NBA player from the country ever back in 2021.
From Bosnia and Herzegovina, Utah Jazz player Jusuf Nurkic has been joined in the NBA this year by young talent Tarik Biberovic, who will play for the Dallas Mavericks after departing Fenerbahce in Turkiye.
Another recent EuroLeague departure Mario Hezonja, who joins the Cleveland Cavaliers, has joined the roster of Croatian players in the NBA, which also includes Ivica Zubac of the Los Angeles Clippers and Karlo Matkovic of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Portland Trail Blazers guard Vit Krejci is the league’s only Czech player, while, at present, there are no Romanian or Hungarian players in the competition.
