By Ben Klayman
NEW YORK (Reuters) - National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern said on Tuesday he expects to sign a new television deal, one that includes a "healthy" increase over the current $4.6 billion terms, before the end of the 2006-07 basketball season.
Stern, speaking at the Reuters Media Summit, said the NBA was already in talks with existing broadcast and cable partners Walt Disney Co. and Time Warner Inc about a deal to replace the current six-year contract, which expires after the 2007-08 season.
"We have begun the discussions a couple of years early," Stern said. "We would very much like to remain in business with our current partners."
The NBA also is exploring selling a stake in its digital assets, which includes its cable TV network and Web site, to a media company, and establishing an NBA-sponsored league in China, he added.
Stern said the new TV deal would likely be an expansion of the current contract, noting that it could include digital assets and overseas markets, and run over six years.
"I would say it's going to be a larger deal," Stern said, referring to the current terms, which pays the league $4.6 billion over the life of the contract, or $767 million a year. "We expect a healthy increase."
The NBA's current TV deal increased the league's annual payment by 25 percent from the prior four-year deal.
Regarding a deal involving the NBA's digital assets, Stern did not name possible investors, but pointed to the current TV partners. Continued...
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