There was a whole lot of drama going on in the U.S. this week. It's all because the NBA contract with ESPN, TNT (a U.S. cable channel) and NBC is expiring after the 2024-2025 season. 

The rights to the sport, one of the last few sure money makers for any network, weren't going to come cheap. NBC and ESPN both ponied up big bucks to keep their rights but a new player entered the game - Amazon Prime. The streaming service was willing to pay a small fortune to get access to the league, meaning it would have been game over for TNT. The network supposedly matched Amazon's bid and nervously waited for news about who would emerge victorious. 

In the end, Amazon was the winner with a bid said to be worth an astounding $20.9 billion over 11 years, meaning TNT will be SOL after next year.

Amazon will apparently get rights to selected games on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. This shouldn't be a big deal for Canadians, because all the networks involved are in the U.S.  But AppleTV bought the rights to certain Major League Baseball games on Friday nights, and that meant at least three or four regular season Blue Jays games were kept off SportsNet here because of rights. 

Could the same thing happen with Raptor games? Are there going to be some contests Canadians won't be able to watch because Amazon is available in this country and can claim North American-wide exclusivity? So far, there's no answer to that question, but if you're a Raptors fan, get ready to possibly and occasionally miss one or more of the team's games in 2025 - and for the next decade after that. 

We'll have to keep an eye out to see if this happens. If it does, Canadian fans who don't pay for Amazon aren't likely to be happy, with radio coverage their only option. 

NBA's new TV rights deals, explained: How TNT failing to match Amazon's offer changes future basketball broadcasts