Setting up what seems more and more like a legal battle with its soon-to-be-former pro sports league broadcast partner, Warner Bros. Discovery's TNT unit said Wednesday that it indeed matched a TV rights offer made by Amazon and that the NBA has no right to reject it.
"We have matched the Amazon offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it," TNT's statement reads. "In doing so, they are rejecting the many fans who continue to show their unwavering support for our best-in-class coverage, delivered through the full combined reach of WBD’s video-first distribution platforms — including TNT, home to our four-decade partnership with the league, and Max, our leading streaming service. We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action. We look forward, however, to another great season of the NBA on TNT and Max including our iconic Inside the NBA.”
On Wednesday, the league announced that it officially signed new national TV deals with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon that will pay the league $77 billion over 11 seasons, starting with the 2025-26 campaign.
In so doing, the NBA seemed to shut the door on a fruitful partnership with TNT that started in 2007 and included the launch of the long-running and very popular Inside the NBA studio show.
"Throughout these negotiations, our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans,“ the NBA said in a statement. “Our new arrangement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements. All three partners have also committed substantial resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience."
Starting two years ago, when he took over as CEO of the combined Discovery and Warner Media operations, David Zaslav took a hardline negotiating position, even declaring at one point, "We don't need the NBA."
WBD was unable to come to terms with the league during an exclusive negotiating window for TV rights incumbents in March. And by signing deals in recent months to license French Open tennis matches and sublicense College Football Playoff games, it was largely assumed by TMT industry watches that heavily indebted WBD was moving on from a bidding process that was too rich for its blood.
However, surprising a lot of folks, linear TV-focused WBD made a late play for the newly carved out window set aside for Amazon -- a package seemingly designed for streaming, and which included far fewer games than TNT's incumbent rights package.
Here's how Amazon Prime Video's $1.8-billion-a-season rights package shapes up:
* Amazon will distribute 66 NBA regular-season games on Prime Video each season, including Thursday night doubleheaders beginning in January, Friday evening doubleheaders, select Saturday afternoon games, at least one game on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), and the Quarterfinals and Semifinals in the Knockout Round of the Emirates NBA Cup. In addition, Prime Video will stream the Championship Game of the Emirates NBA Cup.
* Prime Video will also distribute all six SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament games. In the playoffs, Prime Video will stream approximately one-third of the first and second rounds each year. Additionally, Prime Video will stream one of the two Conference Finals series in six of the 11 years on a rotating basis with NBCU, beginning with the 2026-27 NBA season.
* Amazon will distribute NBA games globally as part of Prime Video, with an expanded package of games in select territories, including Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland. This expanded package includes a minimum of 20 additional primetime regular season games each year, a Conference Finals series each year, and the NBA Finals in six of the 11 years. Prime Video will also become the NBA’s strategic partner and third-party global destination of NBA League Pass, the league’s live NBA game subscription service, with expanded distribution rights for NBA League Pass in the U.S. and internationally. Additionally, as part of the agreement, Prime Video will stream half of all NBA Summer League games as well as a package of WNBA and NBA G League regular-season and postseason games.
