The National Basketball Association (NBA) has recently filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought against the organization by Warner Bros. Discovery. The media giant alleges that the NBA breached its contract by rejecting their offer to match a new media rights deal.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s claims come after the NBA signed an 11-year media rights deal worth nearly $76 billion, spanning from the 2025-26 season through the 2035-36 season. The new contract concludes a nearly 40-year relationship between the NBA and Turner Sports, a Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiary, and establishes new partnerships with Disney, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video.
Navigating the Legal Landscape
In its submission to the court, the NBA included a 28-page motion, accompanied by supporting documents, and requested that the lawsuit be dismissed with prejudice. The league alleges that Warner Bros. Discovery substantially altered Amazon’s original offer by amending key sections.
"TBS chose not to match NBCUniversal's offer, which would have enabled TBS to continue distributing games via its TNT linear cable network," stated the NBA. "Instead, TBS purported to match the less-expensive Amazon offer, but only after revising it to include traditional distribution rights and making numerous other substantive changes."
According to the NBA, Warner Bros. Discovery made revisions to eight of Amazon's 27 sections, redefined 11 terms, struck out nearly 300 words, and added over 270 new words. These modifications included replacing Amazon’s requirement for an upfront $5.4 billion payment held in escrow with syndicated letters of credit. The NBA argues that these changes amounted to a counteroffer rather than an actual match.
"Far from accepting each term of Amazon's offer, TBS's revisions constituted a counteroffer that the NBA was free to reject," the NBA contended.
The Events Unfold
The timeline of events began on July 17 when the NBA presented Amazon's offer to Warner Bros. Discovery. Within five days, Warner Bros. Discovery responded, claiming they had successfully matched the offer. However, on July 24, the NBA rejected Warner Bros. Discovery’s response, citing numerous discrepancies in their matching attempt.
Warner Bros. Discovery maintains that their response was within their contractual rights to match what they deemed to be equivalent terms. Nevertheless, the NBA’s stance remains unwavering. "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," explained the league.
Future of NBA Broadcasting
As part of the new deal, Amazon Prime Video is scheduled to broadcast games on Friday nights, select Saturday afternoons, and Thursday night doubleheaders following "Thursday Night Football." Additionally, Amazon’s agreement includes exclusive coverage of crucial stages of the NBA Cup and the NBA League Pass package. Bill Koenig, president of NBA global content and media distribution, reinforced the NBA’s position by stating, "The response made by TBS does not qualify as a match."
TNT Sports, another Warner Bros. Discovery entity, expressed their commitment to their audience, saying, "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."
Warner Bros. Discovery now faces a critical deadline of September 20 to file its response to the NBA’s motion. This ongoing litigation underscores the high stakes involved in securing lucrative media rights and the complex legal maneuvers that can ensue when multi-billion-dollar contracts are on the line.
As this story continues to develop, the basketball community and media industry stakeholders await the court’s decisions, which will inevitably shape the future broadcasting landscape for the NBA.