When "NBA on Prime" debuts this month, Blake Griffin won't just be discussing basketball tactics; he'll be able to demonstrate them on a real basketball court located inside the broadcasting facility. At Amazon MGM Studios in Culver City, California, Amazon Prime Video has built a 13,000-square-foot, two-story studio that houses a regulation half-court with LED-embedded flooring alongside standard broadcast consoles.
The space boasts over 2,300 LED tiles, with approximately 3 billion pixels, capable of rapidly transforming the environment from a Brooklyn Nets home court to a data visualization hub. According to Amazon, the functional half-court enables analysts to illustrate plays, showcase defensive strategies, or hypothetically host a dunk competition during broadcasts, akin to the pre-game ambiance of TNT’s “Inside the NBA.”
Amazon noted on its About Amazon blog: “The studio isn’t just big for the sake of being big. Every inch has been meticulously planned to create what the team calls an ‘NBA House’ — a comfortable, casual environment where analysts can break down the game in a setting that feels less like a traditional studio and more like an upscale basketball hangout.”
The primary broadcast desk, where host Taylor Rooks and analysts like Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, and Udonis Haslem will present pre-game coverage, is located on the facility's upper mezzanine. The positioning replicates sightlines from arena broadcast booths. The ground level has a lounge area with couches and chairs for "NBA Nightcap," the post-game show that lasts an hour.
The studio is equipped with 22 cameras, including 10 cinematic-style broadcast cameras with large sensors for shallow depth of field. Additional cameras behind the basket and on the court allow for 360-degree coverage when analysts demonstrate plays.
All content will be captured in HDR and 1080p resolution. The facility can receive direct feeds from Prime Video’s arena camera systems, including drones and high frame-rate super slow-motion cameras, allowing seamless integration between live game footage and studio analysis. While initially intended for "NBA on Prime," the studio may also be used for "Thursday Night Football" segments, WNBA coverage starting in 2026, NASCAR, and other Amazon Prime Video sports properties.
The studio premieres when Prime Video begins its 11-year NBA global media rights agreement. The opening doubleheader features Boston Celtics at New York Knicks (7:30 p.m. ET) and Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Lakers (10:00 p.m. ET). Programming includes “The Crossover,” which bridges doubleheaders, and “NBA Nightcap,” which provides postgame analysis. Prime Video’s package encompasses 67 regular-season games, a Black Friday doubleheader, Emirates NBA Cup Knockout Rounds, exclusive Berlin and London games, SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament coverage and select playoff games.