Michael Jordan #23 and Scotty Pippin #33
Nathaniel Butler
In the pantheon of television sports anthems, John Tesh’s anthem “Roundball Rock” is arguably the greatest, and it accompanied NBC’s American Basketball Association games until 2002.
The songwriter told CNBC in an email that NBCUniversal would have the opportunity to bring back the iconic song if it wins NBA rights again.
Comcast’s NBCUniversal has made an average offer of $2.5 billion per year to acquire NBA broadcast rights again after losing them 22 years ago. disneyAccording to people familiar with the matter.wall street journal first reported Details of NBC’s bid.
The NBA wants three media partners this time around and is closing in on deals with Disney and Amazon for two of the packages.The third one might go Warner Bros. Discovery Or NBCUniversal, but not both, people familiar with the matter said.
Warner Bros. Discovery Channel is still in talks with the league to retain the rights. Still, NBCUniversal’s offer is more than double the $1.2 billion Warner Bros. Discovery is currently paying.That may be too expensive for Warner Bros. Discovery, which has a market capitalization of $18 billion, compared with Comcast$150 billion.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has preached financial discipline since taking over the company, including through layoffs and cuts in content spending, to reduce debt and increase free cash flow.He said he is not interested in the “rental business” because that is the nature of sports rights licensing, although he has Also expressed optimism about retaining NBA rights.
Spokespeople for Warner Bros. Discovery Channel, NBC and the NBA declined to comment.
The rights of the “ball”
Nostalgic NBA fans associate “Roundball Rock” with “NBA Live on NBC,” It was an era defined by the dominance of Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls, and the voices of Bob Costas and Marv Albert.USA Today voted Ranked #1 in the 2017 “25 Greatest Sports TV Themes” ranking. “The Ringer” published an article oral history articles about its origins, and NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” Draw a complete sketch about it.
The song hasn’t heralded the start of an NBA game since NBC televised the last league game in 2002.Fox Sports acquires rights to use theme college basketball 2018-19 season, but a generation of fans still associate the song with NBC.
The composer said in an email that if NBC Sports wins the rights, it will again be able to license “Roundball Rock” from Tesh, the song’s owner, for free.
Television personality John Tesh visits the Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” show at Universal Studios Hollywood on March 6, 2020 in Universal Studios Hollywood, California.
Paul Archuleta | Getty Images
Tesh said Fox’s deal with “Roundball Rock” does not prevent any media company from using the song during NBA games.
Media companies typically buy the rights to the song in three-year increments, Tesh said. He declined to say how much he was paid because the contract included a confidentiality agreement, but Tesh noted that he was also compensated with royalties based on how many times the game was played.ring report In 2020, Tesh’s songs were played approximately 12,000 times on “NBA on NBC” from 1990 to 2002.
“It’s funny how people fought for this song,” Tesh said. “In 1990, it was just another theme. Now, the Internet is full of people playing it on ukuleles and casios and teaching it on guitar. We still play it at every concert, And show YouTube videos of these people.
If the NBA airs on NBC again, it will begin in the 2025-26 season. Fans, don’t worry: “Roundball Rock” is out.
—CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo contributed to this report.
Revealed: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.
WATCH: Battle for the NBA: NBC vs. Warner Bros. Discovery Channel
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