NBA rejects Warner Bros. Discovery's offer to continue broadcasting games

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has made a significant decision regarding its future media partners, opting to turn down a bid from long-time collaborator Warner Bros. Discovery. This choice has far-reaching implications and is inextricably linked to the league's new media rights deal. The NBA intends to forge ahead with Amazon as its third partner, augmenting the existing relationships with ESPN and NBCUniversal. The duration of this comprehensive agreement spans an impressive 11 years and is reportedly valued at a staggering $77 billion.

Despite the history and past cooperation between the NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery, the association conveyed its lack of faith in the media company's legal entitlement to match the terms of the league's fresh media deal. In response to Warner Bros. Discovery's proposal, the NBA elucidated that it was not aligned with the conditions set forth by Amazon Prime Video, consequently leading to the commencement of a long-term collaboration with Amazon. The NBA's resolute stance was articulated in a statement released on a Wednesday, unequivocally delineating the reasoning behind their choice.

Discrepancy in Matching Rights

Warner Bros. Discovery, through its prior media rights arrangement with the NBA, had secured matching rights, a contractual provision that empowers the company to equal any payments made for games broadcast on TNT. However, the NBA expressed its skepticism regarding the extension of Warner Bros. Discovery's rights to encompass an all-encompassing streaming package, a domain that had been exclusively allocated to Amazon. While Warner Bros. Discovery does own a streaming service, Max, which could potentially be leveraged to air games, the NBA was informed that the intent was to simulcast TNT games on Max, as opposed to a solitary broadcast on the platform.

With an emphasis on upholding the sanctity of the original matching provision, the NBA dispatched a letter to Warner Bros. Discovery, outlining the rationale behind the incompatibility of Amazon's package with the existing agreement. This correspondence, addressed to Luis Silberwasser, chairman and CEO of TNT Sports, expounded on the intricacies of the matching rights, specifically delving into the constraints imposed on the incumbent partner's exercise of such rights. The NBA articulated that the incumbent partner could only utilize matching rights through the precise form of combined audio and video distribution as stipulated, precluding any divergence from the specified mode of distribution.