The Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) media giant has settled its breach of contract lawsuit against the National Basketball Association (NBA) after missing out on broadcast rights to the league in the US for the next cycle.
The agreement will keep WBD in business with the NBA for the next 11 years and maintain a long-standing relationship between the two.
The settlement will give the major media company rights over a significant amount of NBA content domestically and abroad, and the league will avoid a prolonged legal battle in court with its long-time partner.
TNT Sports and its portfolio of brands - including the Bleacher Report and House of Highlights digital - will receive a global license to create, produce and distribute new and existing NBA content across its platforms.
The agreement includes expanded global content and highlight rights for TNT Sports, Bleacher Report and House of Highlights, with the ability to produce and distribute NBA content across the WBD portfolio, along with "promotion, sales and creative commitments across both NBA and WBD platforms."
Separately, WBD has struck a deal with Disney to license its popular Inside the NBA show to the ESPN and ABC networks starting next season.
Additionally, WBD has been granted live NBA game rights in the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden), along with Poland and Latin America (excluding Brazil and Mexico) for the next 11 years.
“Together these agreements ensure fans will continue to enjoy TNT’s Inside the NBA and create tremendous value for our entire portfolio as we accelerate the growth of TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and our global sports business,” said David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. “We are pleased to partner with the NBA and Disney/ESPN, and to have solidified long-term rights and revenue for WBD.”
WBD filed the lawsuit back in July, alleging that the NBA had breached its contract with the broadcaster after the top US basketball league rejected its matching bid for domestic media rights in the next cycle.
The firm initiated legal action two days after the NBA signed a new 11-year media rights deal worth around $76 billion with Disney, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video that runs from the 2025-26 season through 2035-36.
WBD claimed to have exercised the matching clause in its existing NBA contract to compete with Amazon’s $1.8 billion offer, but the league confirmed it had rejected the last-minute bid as it did not match the terms of the retail giant’s proposal.
The NBA filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court in August.
The league’s decision to award rights to Disney, Amazon, and NBC for the next 11 years ended a relationship of almost four decades with Turner Sports, which began airing NBA games in the 1984-85 season.
The new agreement also continues the NBA Digital partnership between the NBA and TNT Sports for five seasons, under which the NBA can engage WBD to provide promotion and a variety of services, including production, content development and sales operations services.
WBD will also be a strategic promotional partner for the NBA League Pass platform. In addition, advertising for NBA properties and initiatives will run on WBD linear channels and digital platforms.
