NBA Offers No Exclusive Rights

The NBA will not follow in the footsteps of MLB and the NFL. The NBA has offered non-exclusive rights to Electronic Arts, Atari, Midway, Take-Two Interactive and Sony Computer Entertainment America. All of these publishers may release their real-life simulation basketball games yearly. Midway's NBA Ballers franchise may only be released every other year. The same rule goes for EA's arcade-like basketball game NBA Street - the game can only be published once every other year. Atari's Backyard Basketball series has no publishing restrictions, however.