NBA Season Preview: Entering a New Era of Media Rights

Wednesday, October 15 | 12:30 PM ET

NBA Season Preview: Entering a New Era of Media Rights

SBJ NBA reporter Tom Friend sits down with industry insiders to explore the league’s evolving media landscape. With new partners like Amazon and NBC entering the fold, this episode unpacks what the latest media rights packages mean for fans, broadcasters, and the business of basketball.

From streaming innovations to legacy network strategies, we’ll examine how these deals reshape game coverage, viewer engagement, and revenue models. Whether you're tracking the future of sports media or the NBA’s global reach, this conversation sets the tone for a transformative season.

What We Will Discuss

• The structure and value of the NBA’s new media rights deals
• How Amazon and NBC plan to differentiate their NBA coverage
• The impact of streaming platforms on traditional broadcast models
• What these changes mean for fans, advertisers, and the league’s bottom line
• Predictions for the future of live sports media consumption

Who Should Attend

• Sports media executives and strategists
• NBA team and league professionals
• Broadcast and streaming platform professionals
• Advertisers and brand marketers
• Anyone interested in learning more about the changing media landscape around the NBA

Featured Speakers (Additional to be Announced)

Justin Byczek was named Executive Vice President, Programing and Rights Management, NBC Sports in September 2020. In this role, he is responsible for rights and relationship management; scheduling and planning; strategic partnerships and owned properties; and formatting and sales integration for NBC Sports, Golf and Olympic properties and platforms.

Previously, Justin served in Marketing since joining NBC Sports in 2008. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President, Consumer Engagement since 2016, and was responsible for overseeing the entire consumer engagement and marketing efforts for NBC Sports’ multi-platform assets. Prior to that, Byczek was VP, Strategic Partnerships and Marketing from 2016-2012; and Director of Marketing from 2012-2008. Byczek helped to architect and build the marketing strategy for NBC’s #1 show in primetime, Sunday Night Football.

Prior to joining NBC Sports, Byczek held positions at MasterCard as a Director of Sponsorship and at the National Football League in Corporate Sales & Marketing.

Byczek graduated with a bachelor’s degree in History and Marketing from Duke University.

Rosalyn Durant returned to ESPN in March 2023 as executive vice president, programming & acquisitions, leading programming, media rights deals, ESPN+, ESPN International, Andscape and espnW. Durant spent the previous three years in Orlando as senior vice president of Disney Springs, Water Parks and ESPN Wide World of Sports. 

While at the parks, a role she took on in March 2020, she played a critical role in helping restart the 2019-20 NBA season in the “Bubble” at ESPN Wide World of Sports during the pandemic. 

Durant’s Disney and ESPN career features numerous honors, including making Sports Business Journal‘s 2019 Power Player list and Savoy Magazine’s 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America. Durant was named a 2020 Multichannel News Wonder Woman, which acknowledges a group of extraordinary women in media for their commitment to enhancing the business, challenging the status quo and being an example for young leadership around the world. She was included on the CableFax Most Powerful Women list (2017, 2018 – which featured Durant on the cover, and 2019), CableFax Most Influential Minorities list (2018 & 2019), and Sports Business Journal’s 40 under 40 in 2015. 

Durant graduated in 1999 from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in marketing. 

Scott Kaufman-Ross, Executive Vice President, Media Distribution & Partnerships, for the NBA, manages the league’s commercial endeavors across the media distribution landscape. In this role, Scott oversees the departments responsible for the league's media strategy, national media partnerships, social and emerging media, and the distribution of the NBA App, NBA TV and NBA League Pass.

He was instrumental in negotiating the league’s 11-year media rights agreement with Disney, Amazon and NBCUniversal in 2024 and is focused on reshaping the league’s local media distribution strategy. In addition, Scott oversees the global sports betting, fantasy sports, and data distribution businesses, and led the NBA’s partnerships with FanDuel, DraftKings, Sportradar, Yahoo, Tabcorp and Dream11. He also served as the NBA’s Board Observer to FanDuel for three years. Scott played a critical role in the creation of the NBA’s venture investing arm, NBA Investments, and currently sits on the NBA’s Investment Committee.

Before taking on his current role, Scott spent four years on the NBA’s Global Strategy Team evaluating the league’s strategic approach to new business areas such as daily fantasy sports, sports betting, esports and venture investing. Prior to joining the NBA, Scott spent four years at Goldman Sachs in the Global Investment Research division covering the Retail sector.

Charlie Neiman is the head of sports partnerships at Prime Video, where he is responsible for overseeing the acquisition and management of live and on-demand sports content for Prime Video customers. His team leads sports rights negotiations and content strategy, playing an instrumental role in the expansion and optimization of Prime Video’s portfolio across a host of prominent leagues, including the NFL, NBA, Augusta National Golf Club, NASCAR, WNBA, UCL, NWSL, and the NHL.

Neiman’s leadership has driven Prime Video’s growth into a prominent sports destination for fans around the world, with a year-round schedule of top tier events. He has received numerous recognitions as a thought leader in sports media, including a 2025 designation as Content Partnerships Executive of the Year (StreamTV), as well as being named a Sports Streaming Power Player by Sports Business Journal.

A native of Bellevue, Washington, Neiman graduated from Duke University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science. Prior to Amazon, Neiman held leadership roles at Google and YouTube.

Registration is free. All registrants will receive a recording of the webinar following the event.

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