NBA Seeking Big Bucks for New TV Deal?

The National Basketball Association is seeking to double the TV-rights fees it receives from ESPN majority owner Walt Disney Co. DIS -0.15% and Time Warner Inc. TWX -0.84% ‘s Turner Broadcasting, as the league looks to lock up deals for nationally televised games in the coming months, according to people familiar with the matter.

Disney and Turner have eight-year contracts in place that run through the 2015-2016 season, but the companies are already in preliminary discussions with the league about extending their deals. Disney is currently paying about $485 million a year, while Turner’s deal is worth $445 million a year. Given those terms, doubling the payments implies the new deals would be worth a total of nearly $15 billion for the NBA, assuming the length of the new deals remains eight years.

NBA team owners are meeting Tuesday to discuss TV-rights deals and other matters.

via Sharon Terlep and Amol Sharma of The Wall Street Journal