Warner Bros Discovery may have been late to the game, but the TNT owner isn’t about to let Amazon Prime Video snatch its NBA ball without a fight.
“We have matched the Amazon offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it,” TNT said in a statement Wednesday after the Adam Silver-led league decided in favor of Amazon Prime Video as one of the three main rights holders for NBA games starting with the upcoming season.
The NBA and the WNBA now have 11-year long deals with Disney a.k.a. ESPN and ABC, Prime Video and NBCUniversal starting with the 2025-2026 season. Reflecting economic and industry shifts, the new agreements effectively end TNT’s almost 40-year long partnership with the NBA. The new 11-year deals total around $76 billion to the NBA and WNBA.
Which may have been a bit too rich for WBD’s wallet, on a multitude of levels.
“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,” said the NBA in a statement today laying out its call on WBD.
Still, after CEO David Zaslav‘s apparently cavalier attitude to new NBA talks left a stain on TNT’s long relationship with the league’s Warner Bros Discovery is looking for a buzzer beater. And they say they’re doing it for the fans.
“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 video-first distribution platforms — including TNT, home to our four-decade partnership with the league, and Max, our leading streaming service,” WBD says “We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action. We look forward, however, to another great season of the NBA on TNT and Max including our iconic Inside the NBA.”
Legal action by WBD was expected if the media giant came up short in its reportedly $1.8 billion matching bid against Prime Video.
The exclusive negotiating window WBD had with the NBA ended in April with no agreement, though talks continued for a while before sputtering to an end. As today makes clear, the NBA decided it wanted to go forward with fellow incumbent Disney/ESPN as well as NBCUniversal and Prime Video.
Comcast-owned NBC hasn’t held any significant NBA rights for almost two decades, but their return to the fold does promise a new life for the network’s beloved “Roundball Rock” theme music.