The Big Lead

The NBA's New Media-Rights Deal Could Spark a Lawsuit

By J.P. Hoornstra

May 19, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Detailed view of a TNT court broadcast camera before game seven between the Minnesota Timberwolves against the Denver Nuggets in the second round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
May 19, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Detailed view of a TNT court broadcast camera before game seven between the Minnesota Timberwolves against the Denver Nuggets in the second round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
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Wednesday marked a round of celebratory press releases from Amazon, Disney and NBC Universal, the winners in the massive bidding war for the rights to broadcast NBA games beginning in 2025-26.

It was also a day of heartbreak for TNT Sports and fans of its signature studio show, Inside the NBA.

The NBA announced that it was selecting Amazon Prime Video's bid over that of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT. ESPN/ABC, NBC, and Amazon will hold the rights not only for the NBA after the 2025, but the WNBA beginning in 2026. The 11-year TV deals will reportedly net the league $77 billion in total.

Fans will have more than a year to figure out where and when to watch their favorite NBA games once the current broadcasting rights package expires. More on that in a bit.

For now, the main intrigue surrounds the fate of TNT, which announced earlier in the week it was matching Amazon's bid. In a statement Wednesday, the NBA not only announced its selection of Amazon's bid over that of TNT, it explicitly stated TNT did not match the bid under the terms of its negotiating rights.

"Warner Bros. Discovery's most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video's offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon," the league's statement read.

Now, the battle to discern the fine print could spill over into court. In its own statement released later Wednesday, TNT Sports said that not only did it match the Amazon bid, but the NBA didn't have the right to reject it:

Huh?

While the upshot to fans is the same — the NBA on TNT and Inside the NBA are done after the 2024-25 season — it's impossible to reconcile the two statements without delving into the fine print. Given the amount of money at stake, it would not be a surprise if Warner Bros. Discovery takes the issue to court to let a judge decide who had the right do what.

According to Variety, "There is a broad expectation that Warner Bros. Discovery will take the NBA to court to assert what it believes are its rights to keep a package that has already been assigned to Amazon. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has been telling associates that a lawsuit is likely, according to people familiar with those discussions."

Under the new agreements set to kick in a year from now, Disney and ESPN will get exclusive rights to all NBA Finals and five WNBA Finals. Amazon Prime Video gets 66 regular-season NBA games, including an opening week doubleheader, a new Black Friday NBA game, and all games from the Knockout Rounds of the Emirates NBA Cup, including the in-season tournament's Semifinals and Finals. NBC Universal gets 100 regular-season games on NBC andPeacock, including 50 Peacock-exclusive national regular-season and postseason games.

And John Tesh gets his signature song back on TV:

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