“Given the NBA’s unjustified refusal to match us with a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights,” TNT Sports wrote in a statement after filing the lawsuit.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass responded: “Warner Bros. Discovery’s allegations are without merit and will be addressed by our attorneys.”
The NBA agreed to streaming rights deals with Amazon, Comcast-owned NBC, Disney-owned ESPN and ABC last week. The deals are set to go into effect during the 2025-26 season and are worth a total of $76 billion over 11 years. Amazon’s share of the deal is $1.8 billion annually.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also owns The Washington Post.
After the league reached new agreements, Warner notified the NBA that it was exercising what it believed were rights to match Amazon’s stake. The league rejected the game and announced the new agreements — including with Amazon — on Wednesday. Warner then filed its lawsuit.
According to the 108-page complaint, filed in state court in New York, “the NBA had no right not to honor [TNT’s] “While the league told Warner there were differences between the deals — for example, Amazon is a streaming-only company, and TNT is a cable network — the lawsuit alleges those differences are irrelevant to the matching clause.
Warner is asking the court to issue an injunction blocking the league from entering into its deal with Amazon, arguing that the NBA is important to its business because of the fees it charges cable companies and the “halo effect” of live games, which allows it to promote its other programming.
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages if Warner cannot be granted any form of equitable relief.
The lawsuit could also spark settlement talks, though people across the industry have offered varying views on what those talks might look like. Some have speculated that TNT could still air a small package of regular-season games, though it’s hard to imagine where such games would come from. TNT could also continue to run NBA TV or air its popular pre- and post-game show, “Inside the NBA,” with a deal for highlights rights.
Others have suggested that Warner may seek a financial settlement or try to sell the game package for next season, the last of the current NBA deal.
NBA games have been broadcast on TNT since 1989. Charles Barkley, star of “Inside the NBA,” Issued a statement on Friday Which was distributed on some of Warner’s social media channels.
“I’m not sure TNT had a chance at all,” he wrote. “TNT put up the money themselves, but the league knows that Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double down in the future.”
Barkley too Interviewed Friday by Dan Patrick He said he has spoken to the NBA’s three remaining media partners and will listen to potential job offers. He will continue to appear on “Inside the NBA” next season.