The NBA’s Board of Governors ratified the league’s new media rights deal Tuesday night, according to Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal, but the process is still far from over.
Sources tell Friend that Warner Bros. Discovery — the owner of TNT Sports, a longtime NBA media partner — is expected to match the “C” package given to Amazon, which could set off a contentious legal battle. Commissioner Adam Silver hinted at that possibility in a press conference Tuesday night when he said work remains to be done “with existing partners.”
The next step will be for the league to give WBD written copies of the three contracts. Their annual value was originally reported as $2.6 billion for ESPN, $2.5 billion for NBC Universal and $1.8 billion for Amazon, although Friend hears the current numbers are slightly higher. That begins a five-day timeframe in which WBD CEO David Zaslav has the option to match the deal with either NBC or Amazon.
Friend’s sources say that Zaslav views Amazon’s streaming deal — which includes alternating conference finals, a Thursday package, Friday or Saturday games, the NBA Cup (in-season tournament), early-round playoffs and international rights — as the most fiscally responsible. Friend adds that WBD plans to match Amazon with its own streaming service, Max, while running simulcasts on TNT.
According to Friend’s sources, the NBA will likely argue that Max doesn’t possess nearly the same reach as Amazon, which has 200 million worldwide customers compared to about 100 million for Max. Friend notes that the league’s stance could lead to a lawsuit, a financial settlement for WBD, or possibly a fourth broadcast package.
Friend reports that the Board of Governors approved the media rights package in a 29-1 vote, with the only opposition coming from the Knicks, which isn’t surprising given owner James Dolan’s public criticism of the deal and the NBA’s revenue sharing policies.
Sources told Friend that the three-hour meeting in which the rights deal was approved was “a breeze,” and owners received a memo Tuesday informing them that its total value has increased to $77 billion over 11 years. The price tag had many owners questioning whether WBD can really afford to match to match the Amazon bid, Friend adds, noting that the company laid off 1,000 employees this week after similar cutbacks in 2022 and 2023.
Friend points out that streaming has become an increasingly popular option in sports television, and the NBA appears to want to get involved. His sources say that cable TV wasn’t mentioned at all during the BOG meeting or by Silver at his session with reporters.
Friend also cites speculation that NBA TV, which is produced in Atlanta by Turner Sports, could eventually be moved to a studio in New York or New Jersey. His sources indicate that Silver wants the league to continue owning the network regardless of where it’s based.
This is good news. I hate streaming only games.
Good on you WB TNT you fight for your rights.
Or they could’ve just paid up earlier before Amazon was able to jump ahead in line.
They put themselves in this position hoping to get a better deal. If the decision pays off it’ll look like a smart bet. If not, that’s the downside of taking a calculated risk. Hopefully their lawyers are up to snuff.
Naw NBA was going to give Amazon a chance even if TNT gave an amount. They were going to pit them in a bidding war against NBC or Amazon.
You really think ANYONE can outbid Amazon??
If paying $1.8B to televise games is fighting, then it’s a fight. A bit late if you ask me.
Keeping hope alive for the TNT studio crew for one more year. Fingers crossed.
What? You mean eleven more years?
Honestly WB is a broke brand, far from what they once where. I dont know if they have the money to be able to go through with this in a healthy/responsible way. But idk their finances so who knows
I agree with Dolan. Local TV rights are going to get hurt. They are the ones that started it all. And considering MSG owns Knicks. All local cable companies who are part of ownership. Should have a bigger say.
TNT is not losing its rights. They need to capitalize on it. More shows about it.
There may not even be RSN’s in a few years.
Doubt it. Companies like MSG own the local rights. And are part of Knicks. They have to pay them for the rights. They can start their own streaming co. As a matter fact you can stream MSG. No one knows their local teams like local networks. Cable exits cause of fanatics like us. Sports started this whole thing. We want to watch our gm no matter where we are. And we want the local network that follows and knows our team.
Dolan is always complaining about something. He’s just greedy. He should sell the team. They haven’t won a championship under his ownership.
“…streaming has become an increasingly popular option…” In many cases it’s the only option, which doesn’t mean it’s popular. I’m stuck with Bally and they’re a complete and utter joke. And decidedly not popular.
It is another cable, you have enough subscriptions and bs + features you end up paying the same. You have jump app to app though.
I’d pay no more than 2.5B for that package
and the wnba is gonna only get 140 mil increase from 60 mil. nba office is gonna get 6 bil increase from 1 bil? disgusting.
Love it, if it’s real. RFR are great litigation traps. If TNT really wants the rights, this dispute will be with us for a long time. Of course, it’s quite possible that TNT is doing this just to get a check, and nothing any fan will care about happens.