Media and entertainment heavyweight Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is set for a legal battle with the NBA after the top US basketball league rejected its matching rights bid and officially signed off 11-year domestic deals with Amazon, NBCUniversal (NBCU), and incumbent Disney.
On Monday (July 22), WBD announced it had exercised the matching clause in its existing NBA contract to compete with Amazon’s offer, but the NBA yesterday confirmed it had rejected the last-minute bid as it did not match the terms of the retail giant’s proposal.
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In a statement, the NBA said: “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.
“Throughout these negotiations, our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans. Our new arrangement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable, and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements.
“All three partners have also committed substantial resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience.”
However, WBD, which operates the TNT Sports network, immediately hit back at the NBA, disagreeing with its read on the situation, and is prepared to initiate legal action to retain rights.
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By GlobalDataIn response, TNT Sports stated: "We have matched the Amazon offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it.
“We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action."
Turner Sports has had a partnership with the NBA since 1984 and games have been airing on TNT since the network launched in 1988.
The two parties now risk the final season of their four-decade relationship being played out against the backdrop of a court case.
With the NBA considering the matter closed, it unveiled details of its new long-term agreements starting in the 2025-26 season.
Disney, NBC, and Amazon will pay a combined $76 billion to show live games through the 2035-36 campaign.
The main package will be held by the NBA’s long-standing partner Disney (ABC/ESPN), who will pay the largest amount at around $2.6 billion per year, up from $1.5 billion in the current agreement.
Disney will air a total of 80 NBA regular-season games per season, including more than 20 games on ABC and up to 60 games on ESPN (generally on Wednesday nights and, on occasion, Friday nights).
ABC/ESPN, meanwhile, will continue to broadcast all five NBA Christmas games and provide exclusive national coverage of the final day of the regular season.
During the playoffs, ABC/ESPN will show approximately 18 games in the first two rounds each year and one of the two Conference Finals series in 10 of the 11 years of the agreement. ABC will remain the exclusive home of the NBA Finals, which it has broadcast since 2003.
ESPN and ABC will, however, air fewer games under the new deal.
All NBA content on ABC/ESPN is set to be made available on ESPN’s forthcoming direct-to-consumer service, Venu Sports, which is being launched as a joint venture with WBD and Fox.
Disney will distribute NBA games on ESPN-branded assets in several international markets, including Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, and the Netherlands, and via Disney+ in select markets in Asia and Europe.
By the end of this renewal, the NBA’s partnership with ABC/ESPN will reach 34 years.
Meanwhile, Comcast-owned NBCU, which will pay $2.5 billion, will have rights to show up to 100 regular-season games per season – with more than half of the games airing on the linear NBC channel (on Sunday and Tuesday nights).
NBCU will broadcast the league’s opening night double-header on NBC each year and at least two games on MLK Day on NBC and/or the Peacock streaming platform each season.
Peacock will stream a double-header each Monday night of the season. Every Tuesday night, NBC will telecast two games across certain NBC affiliate broadcast stations in different regions of the country. NBC also will become the new home of the NBA All-Star game.
In the playoffs, NBC and/or Peacock will air approximately 28 games in the first two rounds, with at least half of those games airing on NBC. NBC will also telecast one of the two Conference Finals series in six of the 11 years on a rotating basis with Amazon, beginning with the 2025-26 season.
As part of the tie-up, NBCU will distribute NBA games in several European markets through pay-TV giant Sky Sports (including the UK) as well as in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.
Sky, also owned by Comcast, will replace TNT Sports in the UK, in another blow to WBD.
BREAKING: Sky Sports announces deal to show NBA and WNBA for 11 years from the 2025/26 season 🚨🏀 pic.twitter.com/ukAF8JEru0
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 25, 2024
Additionally, NBCU will be the home of all USA Basketball senior men’s and women’s national team games.
In a separate sponsorship deal, Comcast’s Xfinity telecoms company will become the official TV service of the NBA, WNBA, and USA Basketball. The partnership includes collaboration on marketing, virtual signage during game broadcasts, and activations at marquee NBA, WNBA, and USA Basketball events.
Amazon’s $1.8 billion deal, meanwhile, includes rights to air 66 regular-season games on its Prime Video service each season, including Thursday night double-headers beginning in January, Friday evening double-headers, select Saturday afternoon games, at least one game on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), and the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final of the Emirates NBA Cup in-season tournament.
Prime Video will also show all six NBA Play-In Tournament games, while its playoffs coverage will feature approximately one-third of the first and second rounds each year.
Additionally, Prime Video will share one of the two Conference Finals series in six of the 11 years with NBCU, beginning with the 2026-27 NBA season.
Amazon will also distribute NBA games globally as part of Prime Video, with an expanded package of games in select territories, including Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the UK, and Ireland.
This expanded package includes a minimum of 20 additional primetime regular season games each year, a Conference Finals series each year, and the NBA Finals in six of the 11 years.
Prime Video will also become the NBA’s strategic partner and third-party global destination of NBA League Pass – the league’s subscription service, with expanded distribution rights for NBA League Pass in the US and internationally.
The agreements include a record number of national games on television, with approximately 75 regular-season games to be aired each season, up from the minimum of 15 games under the current agreement.
Disney, NBCU, and Prime Video will also broadcast more than 125 WNBA games annually from 2026 to 2036.
The WNBA Finals will rotate between the trio, while Prime Video will expand distribution rights for the WNBA League Pass service globally.
Adam Silver, NBA commissioner, has said: “Our new global media agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon will maximize the reach and accessibility of NBA games for fans in the United States and around the world.
“These partners will distribute our content across a wide range of platforms and help transform the fan experience over the next decade.”
