Warner Bros. Discovery is making a play to keep NBA rights, telling the league that it will match Amazon’s bid for a package of games.
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The company said in a statement Monday afternoon that it intends to match Amazon’s bid, which is for about $1.8 billion per year, or more than $20 billion over the course of the deal. WBD did not mention Amazon by name, but a source says that it is targeting the package from the tech giant.
“In an effort to continue our long-standing partnership, during both exclusive and non-exclusive negotiation periods, we acted in good faith to present strong bids that were fair to both parties,” TNT Sports said in a statement. “Regrettably, the league notified us of its intention to accept other offers for the games in our current rights package, leaving us to proceed under the matching rights provision, which is an integral part of our current agreement and the rights we have paid for under it.
“We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them,” the statement continued. “Our matching paperwork was submitted to the league today. We look forward to the NBA executing our new contract.”
It is not clear, however, if the NBA will actually allow WBD to match the deal. An NBA spokesperson replied, “We’ve received WBD’s proposal and are in the process of reviewing it.”
Amazon’s deal is a streaming-only package, while WBD’s TNT Sports televises the games on TNT and also streams them on Max.
In addition, sports commentator Bill Simmons has said that the deal is structured so that Amazon will pay the NBA three years of rights payments up front to be held in escrow, or a roughly $5.4 billion check. It’s a move that may have been intended to block WBD’s match.
A source familiar with the matter says that Warner Bros. Discovery has secured a letter of credit that would cover the payment.
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The decision to match came after months of drawn out negotiations between the league and current and potential rights partners, with WBD ultimately unable to reach a new deal in its exclusive negotiating window with the league.
The NBA subsequently found new rights partners in the form of NBC Sports, which is in line to get the “B” package for around $2.5 billion per year, and Amazon, which will get the “C” package for about $1.8 billion per year. Disney will remain the NBA’s partner for the “A” package, including the NBA Finals.
What happens next is unclear, but the two most plausible outcomes, per multiple sources, are either some kind of settlement or a lawsuit from WBD.
A settlement could see the two parties agree to some sort of deal — either a small fourth rights package for TNT Sports or some cash payment or other offer from the league to WBD. Or if the league rejects the match outright, a potential suit from WBD would let a judge determine what qualifies as a “match” in rights.
As the NFL found in the recent Sunday Ticket antitrust lawsuit, these things can be unpredictable.
The announcement from TNT Sports also means that Inside the NBA , TNT’s venerable and long-running studio show, remains in some flux after next season. The show is widely regarded as one of the best — if not the best — sports studio shows on TV, thanks in no small part to the chemistry of the hosts that include Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. The four hosts signed long-term deals in 2022, but Barkley has claimed that he has a clause in his contract that could permit him to move on if WBD loses NBA rights.
Barkley, after previously saying that he would be tempted to reboot Inside the NBA (or a similar show) on his own should TNT Sports lose NBA rights, said last month that he plans to retire from TV after next season.
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