As the NBA season tipped off last week, so did a new broadcast era.
The first games were introduced by the nostalgic melodies of “Roundball Rock,” a sports theme not heard on NBA broadcasts in the last two decades. Mike Tirico was on the mic. NBC’s peacock logo was watermarked on the screen.
The league’s highly anticipated $77 billion media rights deal has begun, with NBC/Peacock, ESPN/ABC and Amazon Prime sharing national broadcast privileges. Denver’s first streaming-only game is Monday in Minnesota, aired by NBCUniversal through Peacock.
Another brand-new development as this all takes effect: The presence of Michael Jordan on television.