TNT Sports is suing the NBA after the league rejected its offer to match one of its new television deals.
“Given the NBA’s unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights,” TNT Sports said in a statement.
TNT Sports statement on NBA media rights: pic.twitter.com/C14DPCJ65P
— TNT Sports U.S. PR (@TNTSportsUS) July 26, 2024
The NBA announced its 11-year, $77 billion agreements with ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video earlier this week.
The deals are set to begin in the 2025-26 season. Next year, TNT Sports will continue as the home of the NBA, along with ESPN. TNT Sports has focused on Amazon Prime Video’s streaming package as the one it feels it has the right to match.
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s claims are without merit and our lawyers will address them,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said.
The suit was filed in New York County Supreme Court. While actually taking over Amazon’s package is considered a long shot, TNT could make a claim for compensatory damages or for a set of games or highlights as on its current contract it does have the backend rights.
However, there is a disagreement about the extent of those rights as the current deal is based on linear cable, while Amazon’s new agreement is for streaming.
“We strongly believe this is not just our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to keep watching our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed WBD video-first distribution platforms — including TNT and Max,” TNT said in its statement.
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