Luka Doncic #77 of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks shoots the ball against the Boston Celtics during Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston on June 17, 2024.
Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Federation | Getty Images
The NBA has dropped its longtime media partner Warner Bros. Discoveryits attempt to continue broadcasting games after next season.
The league told the media company it does not believe it owns legal matching rights to the new media deal. Instead, he plans to move on Amazon as its third partner, along with ESPN and NBCUniversal, in the 11-year deal worth about $77 billion.
“The latest offering from Warner Bros. Discovery did not fit the terms of the Amazon Prime Video offer, and therefore we have entered into a long-term agreement with Amazon,” the NBA said in a statement on Wednesday.
Warner Bros. Discovery acquired matchup rights as part of its current media rights deal with the league, which expires at the end of next season. That provision allows the company to match payment for any of the games broadcast on TNT, which it tried to do Monday.
The NBA does not believe that the rights of Warner Bros. Discovery is expanding into an all-streaming package designed for Amazon. Warner Bros. Discovery also has a streaming service, Max, that it could use to stream games, but the company told the NBA that it plans to simulcast TNT games on Max instead of just putting them on Max.
The NBA sent a letter Wednesday to Warner Bros. Discovery, reaching out to TNT Sports chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser to explain why it can’t match Amazon’s package, citing language from the original matching provision, according to people familiar with the matter.
The NBA cited a provision that said the existing media partner may exercise matching rights “only through the particular form of combined audio and video distribution (e.g., if the particular form of combined audio and video distribution is Internet distribution, the respective provider cannot exercise such gaming 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 that goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal deals.”
“All three partners have also committed significant resources to promote the league and improve the fan experience,” the league added. “We are grateful to Turner Sports for their award-winning coverage of the NBA and look forward to another NBA season on TNT.”
Warner Bros. Discovery said Monday it matched one of three NBA media rights packages, which people familiar with the matter identified as the $1.8 billion-a-year deal earmarked for Amazon Prime Video. Disney and ComcastNBCUniversal inked deals for the other two packages, part of the league’s $77 billion 11-year media rights renewal.
“We have responded to Amazon’s offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and we do not believe the NBA can reject it,” Warner Bros. said in a statement. Discovery on Wednesday. “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 first-picture video distribution platforms — including TNT, the four-decade-old our partnership with the league and Max, our premier streaming service.”
“We believe they have grossly misrepresented our contractual rights in relation to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action,” the statement continued. “However, we look forward to another great NBA season on TNT and Max, including our flagship Inside the NBA.”
Turner Sports by Warner Bros. Discovery has carried live NBA games for nearly 40 years. TNT cable network hosts “Inside the NBA,” the popular studio show starring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal. The future of the series is in doubt unless the NBA reaches 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 customers worldwide — more than 200 million to Max’s roughly 100 million — which may make the service a more attractive platform for the league. Streaming rights are worldwide, although Warner Bros. Discovery is only bidding for U.S. rights, according to people familiar with the contract language.
Warner Bros. Discovery may have to sue the NBA to claim the matchup rights. Lawyers for the company and the NBA have been reviewing the contract language in recent months, according to people familiar with the matter.
Details on the new NBA rights deal
Disney pays $2.62 billion a year for its games package and NBCUniversal pays $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 gaming portal, directing consumers to every national game, whether it’s broadcast, cable or streaming. About 75 regular-season games will be televised each season, up from 15 games in 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,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, in a statement. “These partners will distribute our content across a wide range of platforms and help transform the fan experience over 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 have one of two conference finals series in 10 of the 11 years of the deal. 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 broadcast 100 NBA games each regular season, including about 50 that will be exclusively on the Peacock streaming platform, according to CEO Mike Cavanagh.
“We are proud to partner once again with the NBA and WNBA, two iconic brands and the home of the best basketball in the world,” said Cavanagh. “We look forward to bringing best-in-class coverage of both leagues with our innovative programming and distribution plan to 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 at least 25 regular season games, NBCUniversal will carry 50 regular season and playoffs games on its platforms, and Prime Video will get 30 regular-season games, assuming Warner Bros. Discovery can’t match Amazon’s bundle.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
