The Raptors maintained their spot atop

NEW YORK, N. Custom Sacramento Kings Jerseys .Y. - The NBA and its television partners couldnt wait to extend their contracts.The league renewed its deals with ESPN and TNT even though two seasons remain on the old ones. With potential competition from Fox looming, both networks were willing to pay generously to secure the rights long term.The NBAs annual revenue from the agreements will increase from $930 million to more than $2.6 billion, according to a person familiar with the terms. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because the league did not announce financial figures.We ultimately made a decision that this was the right time to go, Commissioner Adam Silver said at a news conference Monday. These are extraordinarily healthy deals financially.The contracts will run an additional nine years through the 2024-25 season. The previous eight-year agreements end after 2015-16.We believe at the end of the deal it will feel inexpensive, ESPN President John Skipper said. Its hard to imagine.What was painful to imagine for both companies was life without the NBA.Each year the playoffs help TNT win nights of television during all-important May sweeps, said David Levy, president of Turner Broadcasting System.The basics wont change: The NBA Finals remain on ABC, ESPNs broadcast partner. ESPN/ABC and TNT will continue to split the conference finals.Broadcasting rights fees have been skyrocketing across all sports as live events become increasingly valuable to advertisers. Few viewers will DVR an NBA game, which means they cant fast-forward through the commercials.Theres never been a better time to be an owner of an NBA franchise a€” or, frankly, any professional sports team, said Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, chairman of the leagues media committee.Players may remember that comment when they negotiate the next collective bargaining agreement with owners, which could happen in 2017. Owners insisted they needed a new financial structure during the 2011 talks and emerged with a deal that slashed the players guarantee of basketball revenues.The whole thing that went on with the last negotiation process was the owners were telling us they were losing money. Theres no way they can sit in front of us and tell us that right now, Clevelands LeBron James said. After we continue to see teams selling for billions of dollars, being purchased for $200 million, signing for $550, $750 and $2 billion and now (Mikhail) Prokhorov is possibly selling his majority stake in the Nets for over $1 billion. That will not fly with us this time.The league has relationships with both Fox and Comcast, NBCs parent company, which locally televise teams games on their regional sports networks. If the national contract had gone to the open market, NBC also could have pursued a return to NBA coverage to boost its 24-hour sports cable channel, NBCSN.Silver said the league took into consideration the potential interest of tech companies such as Google and Apple that could eventually bid on sports rights and change the model for how fans watch games.But for the next decade and beyond, the NBA is sticking with what works.I dont think we left any money on the table, Silver said. Were confident that we maximized what our opportunity was in the marketplace.For ESPN, the value of the deal goes beyond games, though there are more of those, too: ESPN and ABC are adding 10 regular-season matchups, bringing their total to 100.The network also gets expanded rights to air highlights and will significantly expand its NBA studio shows. The goal is to make basketball a year-round topic of conversation as the NFL has become on ESPN.To that end, the agreement adds the NBAs Summer League and its developmental league. The network also extends its WNBA contract through 2025 and increases its offerings for ESPN International.And then there are the plans for a new service for mobile devices that ESPN will run, with the NBA receiving equity interest. Details on that have yet to be determined.ESPN now owns rights to the NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball, college football playoffs and four of the five power conferences through at least 2021. Only the Big Ten contract ends soon among the networks biggest sports properties.It will be at least another decade before Fox can try to put a substantial dent in ESPNs head start.TNT, meanwhile, cant offer its own 24-hour sports channel to the NBA. But it has deep business ties to the league through managing its digital properties, which includes NBA TV and NBA.com.The new deal includes expanded digital rights for Bleacher Report, the sports website acquired by Turner, TNTs parent company. TNT will televise an additional 12 games with playoff implications over the second half of the season on nights other than its traditional Thursday, bringing its total to 64.TNT will also air a new post-season awards show.When the NBA negotiated its last CBA, the union secured the ability for either side to opt out in 2017 so players could gauge the effects of the next television deals on revenue. One reason James signed for only two years with the Cavaliers was an expectation that the salary cap would rise significantly with more TV money pouring in, increasing maximum salaries.Silver said he would start discussions with National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts about the transition to a much larger cap.In a statement, Roberts called the new contracts good news for all of the stakeholders in the business of the NBA.Our job will be to ensure that the players receive their fair share of the results of their efforts, she added, and that we do everything possible to maintain the growth and popularity of the game.___AP Sports Writer Tom Withers in Independence, Ohio contributed to this report. Kings Jerseys China . Watch the action live on TSN and listen on TSN 1050 Radio beginning at 7pm et/4pm pt. The Raptors maintained their spot atop the Atlantic Friday after defeating the Wizards, 96-88, for their second win in a row. Sacramento Kings Pro Shop . The Spanish champions decision not to sign a defender during the January transfer window may have backfired after Valencia took advantage of a lethargic, uninspired effort by its hosts at the Camp Nou, where former Spain coach Luis Aragones -- who previously coached the Catalan side -- was honoured after his death on Saturday. https://www.cheapkingsbasketball.com/ .500. The Jets have now won nine of their last 11, and five of their last six road games. With the win they moved to within two points of Vancouver in the west, the Canucks holding down the eighth spot. Vancouver lost in Boston, while the other big game saw Dallas win in Phoenix.The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks hold steady in the top two spots of the TSN.ca NFL Power Rankings, but there is plenty of change below. After their most impressive win of the season, the New England Patriots moved back up to third, while the New Orleans Saints continued their strong start and vaulted to fourth, from 11 the week before. Two more of the unbeatens, the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins, have reached the Top 10, both moving up five spots this week. A dominant showing at home against St. Louis lifted the Dallas Cowboys from 20 to 16, while the New York Jets racked up more than 500 yards in offence against Buffalo, enoughh to move up from 30 to 20. Sacramento Kings Shirts. Thumped by Baltimore, the Houston Texans sunk from fourth to 12 and the San Francisco 49ers lopsided home loss resulted in a fall from six to 15. A mistake-filled outing last Thursday resulted in Philadelphia falling from 13 to 19 and the Tampa Bay Bucs, changing gears at quarterback after a beatdown in New England, slipped from 18 to 25. On the receiving end of a beating from the Cowboys, the Rams dropped from 23 to 29. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '