Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks shoots the ball against the Boston Celtics during Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals on June 17, 2024 at TD Garden in Boston.
Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Association | Getty Images
The National Basketball Association has rejected its former media partner Warner Bros. DiscoveryThe bet is to continue broadcasting the matches after the next season.
The NBA told the media company that it does not believe it has legal matching rights for the league's new media deal. Instead, it plans to move forward with Amazon as its third partner, alongside ESPN and NBCUniversal, in their 11-year deal worth approximately $77 billion.
“Warner Bros. Discovery's most recent proposal did not align with the terms of Amazon Prime Video's offer and therefore we have reached a long-term agreement with Amazon,” the NBA said in a statement Wednesday.
Warner Bros. Discovery acquired the match rights as part of its current broadcast rights deal with the league, which expires at the end of next season. That provision allows the company to match the payout for any of the games that air on TNT.
The NBA doesn’t believe Warner Bros. Discovery’s rights will extend to a full streaming package, which was created for Amazon. Warner Bros. Discovery also owns a streaming service, Max, that it could use to stream games, but the company has told the NBA it plans to simulcast TNT games on Max rather than just putting them on Max.
The NBA on Wednesday sent a letter to Warner Bros. Discovery explaining why it can’t match Amazon’s package, citing language in the original matching clause, according to people familiar with the matter. CNBC obtained a portion of that letter, addressed to Luis Silberwasser, president and CEO of TNT Sports.
The NBA cited a provision that says an existing media partner may exercise matching rights “only through the specified form of combined audio and video distribution (e.g., if the specified form of combined audio and video distribution is Internet distribution, an existing media partner may not exercise such matching rights through television distribution).”
In its statement, the NBA said that “throughout these negotiations, our primary goal has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for 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 substantial resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience,” the league added. “We are grateful to Turner Sports for their award-winning NBA coverage and look forward to another season of NBA action on TNT.”
Warner Bros. Discovery said Monday it has matched one of three NBA media rights packages, which people familiar with the matter identified as the $1.93 billion-per-year deal earmarked for Amazon Prime Video. Disney and ComcastNBCUniversal has signed deals for the other two packages, part of the league's $77 billion, 11-year media rights renewal.
“In an effort to continue our longstanding partnership, during both the exclusive and non-exclusive negotiation periods, we acted in good faith to present strong offers that were fair to both parties. Regrettably, the league notified us of its intent to accept other offers for the games in our current rights package, allowing us to continue under the equivalent rights provision, which is an integral part of our current agreement and the rights we have paid for thereunder,” Warner Bros. Discovery said in a statement Monday. “This will allow fans to continue to enjoy our unparalleled coverage, including the best live game productions in the industry and our iconic studio and talent programming, while continuing to build on our proven 40-year commitment for many years to come.”
Warner Bros. Discovery's Turner Sports has broadcast live NBA games for nearly 40 years. Cable network TNT is home to Inside the NBA, the popular studio show starring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal. The show's future is in doubt if the NBA doesn't reach a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.
The league also wants its streaming partner to have maximum reach. Amazon Prime Video has more than twice as many global customers (more than 200 million versus Max’s roughly 100 million), which may make the service a more attractive platform for the league. The streaming rights are global, though Warner Bros. Discovery is only bidding for the U.S. rights, according to people familiar with the contract language.
Warner Bros. Discovery may have to sue the NBA to reclaim its matching rights. Lawyers for the company and the NBA have been studying the contractual language for the past several months, according to people familiar with the matter.
Details of the new NBA rights agreement
Disney is paying $2.62 billion a year for its gaming package and NBCUniversal is paying $2.45 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The new rights deal begins with the 2025-26 season and runs through the 2035-36 season.
The NBA app will be a central portal for games, directing consumers to every national game, whether it airs on television, cable or a streaming service. About 75 regular-season games will be televised each season, up from 15 games under the current rights deal. The league will have two broadcast partners: Disney’s ABC and NBCUniversal’s NBC.
“Our new global media agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon will maximize the reach and accessibility of NBA games for fans in the United States and around the world,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “These partners will distribute our content across a wide range of platforms and help transform the fan experience for the next decade.”
Disney will distribute 80 NBA regular-season games per season, including more than 20 games on ABC and up to 60 games on ESPN. ABC and ESPN will each have one of two conference finals series in 10 of the 11-year duration of the agreement. ABC will remain the exclusive home of the NBA Finals, which it has broadcast since 2003.
NBCUniversal will return as the league’s broadcast partner after losing NBA rights in 2002. NBCUniversal will stream 100 NBA games each regular season, including about 50 that will be exclusive to its Peacock streaming platform, according to CEO Mike Cavanagh.
“We are proud to once again partner with the NBA and WNBA, two iconic brands and the home of the best basketball in the world,” Cavanagh said in a statement. “We look forward to presenting our first-class coverage of both leagues with our innovative programming and distribution plan on NBC and Peacock to entertain fans and help grow the game.”
WNBA games are also part of all three packages. The partners will distribute more than 125 regular-season and playoff games nationally each season. Disney will broadcast a minimum of 25 regular-season games, NBCUniversal will broadcast 50 regular-season and playoff games. games on their platforms, and Prime Video will get 30 regular-season games, assuming Warner Bros. Discovery can't match Amazon's package.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
