Warner Bros. Discovery Sues NBA Over Amazon Deal

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The lawsuit was filed Friday in New York.

Warner Bros. Discovery sued the NBA on Friday for breach of contract after the league said the TNT owner did not match Amazon’s $1.8 billion bid for an 11-year distribution rights deal, according to multiple outlets, though Warner Bros. Discovery has claimed provided a valid match and is arguing the NBA cannot deny its offer because it has matching rights enshrined in its 2014 deal with the league.

KEY FACTS

The suit was filed under seal in New York County Supreme Court, according to Yahoo Finance, which obtained a copy Friday.

Warner Bros. Discovery said in a statement Friday the “NBA’s unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer” spurred them to sue the league, adding it believes TNT Sports’ broadcasting of NBA games is their “contractual right.”

The lawsuit reportedly aims to maintain TNT’s broadcast rights for live NBA games over Amazon, which can show 66 NBA regular-season games and more on Prime Video through the 2035-36 season under an 11-year deal, which was announced alongside parallel arrangements with Disney and NBCUniversal earlier this week.

The NBA has said Warner Bros. Discovery’s matching rights would only apply to a match of NBCUniversal’s pricier, $2.5 billion deal, according to NBC News, arguing that Warner Bros. Discovery’s plan to simulcast NBA games on its cable network, TNT, and its streaming service, Max, does not match Amazon’s deal to only broadcast games on Prime Video, which is just a streaming service.

Former NBA player and “Inside the NBA” commentator Charles Barkley, who has been increasingly vocal about the media contract dispute, said in a statement the NBA has wanted to break up with TNT “from the beginning,” adding he was not sure TNT stood a chance against Amazon.

CRUCIAL QUOTE

“TNT matched the money, but the league knows Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future. The NBA didn’t want to piss them off,” Barkley said. “It’s a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans. It just sucks.”

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

The NBA appears ready to fight the lawsuit, as NBA spokesman Mike Bass told Forbes, “Warner Bros. Discovery’s claims are without merit and our lawyers will address them.”

BIG NUMBER

$77 billion. That is the estimated value of the media rights deals the NBA is looking to seal with Amazon, Disney and NBCUniversal, according to NBC.

KEY BACKGROUND

TNT and the NBA could see the end of a nearly four decades-long partnership if the dispute ends in the league’s favor. TNT pays $1.2 billion for its NBA broadcasting rights, which will expire at the end of the upcoming season. The NBA secured its deals with Amazon, NBCUniversal and Disney earlier this month, giving TNT a window to match terms to maintain its broadcast rights. The league announced this week it was moving on from Warner Bros. Discovery, saying the company’s “most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer.” TNT issued a statement shortly after the announcement, vowing to take “appropriate action” against the NBA. Turbulence between TNT and the league has boiled for months now, with Barkley voicing his criticism for network executives responsible for the potential breakup and saying in May the people he works with “screwed this thing up, clearly. We don't have zero idea what's going to happen."

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