Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT, is suing the NBA over a matching rights clause in its previous television contract.
This comes after the league announced it would end its decades-long partnership with the broadcaster in favor of a new rights deal with Amazon, NBC and ESPN.
“Since the NBA wrongfully rejected our match with a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights,” TNT Sports said in a statement.
“We believe this is not only our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to continue to watch our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them across our widely distributed WBD video-first distribution platforms, including TNT and Max.”
The NBA responded: “Warner Bros. Discovery’s claims are without merit and our attorneys will address them.”
Warner Brothers Discovery is suing NBA over its right to match Amazon’s TV deal
WBD claims they have the right to match the deal Amazon offered to the league
Earlier this week, the NBA announced it would remain with ESPN/ABC and enter into a new deal with Amazon and NBC, effective in late 2025.
At the heart of the dispute is “back-end rights” – a common clause in television rights deals that gives a current rights holder the chance to match a competing bid at the end of the agreement.
While the lawsuit is largely secret, WBD believes TNT can legally match Amazon’s rights package.
Meanwhile, the NBA argues that WBD can’t match up to Amazon, in part because WBD’s Max streaming platform has about half the global reach of Amazon’s Prime Video.
Other points made by the NBA include Amazon’s rights package being labeled as streaming exclusive, while the WBD deal would include the right to broadcast games on both Max and TNT.
There is also disagreement over whether Amazon (worth nearly $2 trillion) can provide more money up front than WBD (worth about $20 billion).
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer and as a result, we have entered into a long-term agreement with Amazon,” the NBA said in a statement earlier this week.
The NBA described the lawsuit as “baseless and our attorneys will handle it”
‘During these negotiations, our primary goal was to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games to our fans.
“Our new agreement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming packages already part of our new agreements with Disney and NBCUniversal.
‘All three partners have also committed significant resources to promote the competition and enhance the fan experience.’
