Shutterstock image
NBA Seeks to Have Warner Bros. Discovery Lawsuit Dismissed
August 26, 2024
The National Basketball Association has filed a motion seeking to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it by Warner Bros. Discovery, which alleges the league violated its contract by opting to pursue a future streaming deal with Prime Video.
The NBA inked an exclusive media rights deals worth a collected $76 billion with ESPN, NBC Sports and Prime Video for the next 11 years, beginning in 2025.
The NBA and WBD’s TBT Sports have one year remaining through TNT Sports on a media rights partnership that has lasted 40 years.
With direct-to-consumer streaming distribution a key driver for professional sports leagues and media companies, the NBA chose Prime Video with its global reach over WBD, whose Max platform has fewer subscribers worldwide.
In the league’s 28-page motion, it claims WBD tried to rewrite the language in its contract to include linear TV rights while matching Prime Video’s less expensive $1.8 billion annual deal, rather than ESPN and NBC’s more expensive $2.45 billion agreements.
“Far from accepting each term of Amazon’s offer, TBS’s revisions constituted a counteroffer that the NBA was free to reject,” read the league’s motion, filed Aug. 23 in The Supreme Court of the State of New York.
TNT Sports claims it has a contractual right to match any third-party offer for future league rights.
Subscribe HERE to the FREE Media Play News Daily Newsletter!
“It is in the best interest of the fans who want to continue to enjoy our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed platforms, including TNT and Max,” read a WBD statement. “We will file our opposition in the coming weeks.”
WBD has until Sept. 20 to file a response.