The NBA has recently taken a bold legal step in its ongoing battle with Warner Bros. Discovery, filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit alleging a breach of contract over a new media rights deal. This dramatic chapter in the NBA’s media rights negotiations reflects the high-stakes environment of sports broadcasting, as both parties scramble to secure lucrative content distribution agreements.
Major Contract Shifts
At the heart of the dispute is the NBA's 11-year media rights deal, valued at nearly $76 billion, which the league has signed with Disney, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video. The agreement spans from the 2025-26 season through the 2035-36 season and marks a significant shift in broadcast partnerships. The deal ends an almost 40-year relationship between the NBA and Turner, a development not without its share of controversy and legal wrangling.
The Core Allegations
Warner Bros. Discovery claims the NBA violated their contract by rejecting the company's matching offer for the new media rights deal. According to the lawsuit, Warner Bros. Discovery made what it believed to be a successful matching bid based on the terms presented to them. However, this claim is where the narratives diverge sharply.
Nitty-Gritty of the Matching Offer
According to the NBA, Warner Bros. Discovery substantially altered Amazon's original offer. The league's legal response—a detailed 28-page motion—asserts that Warner Bros. Discovery amended significant portions of Amazon’s proposal, including revising eight of Amazon's 27 sections, redefining 11 terms, striking out nearly 300 words, and adding over 270 new words. Such changes, the NBA argues, amounted to a counteroffer rather than a true match.
"Instead, TBS [owned by Warner Bros. Discovery] purported to match the less-expensive Amazon offer, but only after revising it to include traditional distribution rights and making numerous other substantive changes," the NBA stated.
Counteroffer vs. Match
The league's contention is that Warner Bros. Discovery’s version of Amazon’s deal was not a valid match but a counteroffer that the NBA was free to reject. Bill Koenig, president of NBA global content and media distribution, emphasized, "The response made by TBS does not qualify as a match."
Amazon's proposal included a mandatory upfront payment of approximately $5.4 billion to be held in an escrow account, a term that Warner Bros. Discovery sought to modify, suggesting syndicated letters of credit instead. This and other discrepancies led the NBA to dismiss Warner Bros. Discovery’s claim of a successful match just five days after the initial proposal was presented on July 17.
NBA’s Strategic Moves
The new media rights deal also outlines Amazon Prime Video’s future broadcasting schedule, which covers Friday night games, select Saturday afternoons, and Thursday night doubleheaders following "Thursday Night Football." Additionally, Amazon has secured exclusive coverage of key NBA Cup stages and the entire NBA League Pass package.
Reflecting on TBS’s options, the NBA noted, "If TBS wanted linear TV distribution rights, it could have matched a separate more expensive third-party offer from NBC, but TBS elected not to do so, attempting instead to save billions of dollars by combining Amazon's lower price with the linear television rights granted to NBC."
This intricate dance of offers and counteroffers highlights the complexity of modern media rights deals, where linear TV and streaming rights must be carefully balanced to maximize revenue and audience reach.
TNT Sports Response
Despite the NBA’s moves, TNT Sports, a Warner Bros. Discovery entity, believes it is in the best interest of the fans to continue enjoying NBA content across its widely distributed platforms. "Not only is it our contractual right, but it is in the best interest of the fans who want to continue to enjoy our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed platforms including TNT and Max," TNT Sports representatives stated.
Next Steps
As the drama unfolds, Warner Bros. Discovery has until September 20 to file its response to the NBA's motion to dismiss. The outcome of this legal battle could reshape the landscape of NBA broadcasting and set a precedent for how media rights negotiations are conducted in the future.