TNT makes major announcement about NBA media rights

May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Former NBA player and current TNT television personality Charles Barkley prior to game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs between the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

TNT is looking to stay in the NBA broadcasting game, but the way the network is going about it could potentially lead to a legal battle.

In a statement that was issued Monday, TNT Sports announced that the network has exercised its right to match a contractual offer that the NBA has accepted from a competitor. While the release did not say which offer TNT is matching, there have been multiple reports that TNT is matching the 11-year offer the NBA recently accepted from Amazon.

“We’re proud of how we have delivered for basketball fans by providing best-in-class coverage throughout our four-decade partnership with the NBA,” TNT’s statement read. “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. 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. This will allow fans to keep enjoying our unparalleled coverage, including the best live game productions in the industry and our iconic studio shows and talent, while building on our proven 40-year commitment for many more years. Our matching paperwork was submitted to the league today. We look forward to the NBA executing our new contract.”

According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, the NBA has entered into an agreement with Prime Video that includes a regular-season package, a full playoff slate and six conference finals game. Amazon also plans to unveil a “Thursday Night Basketball” after the NFL season ends.

The agreement between Amazon and the NBA is reportedly worth $1.8 billion. NBC and ESPN/ABC are expected to be the two primary broadcast partners of the NBA with packages that are worth $2.5 billion per year and $2.6 billion per year, respectively.

As Marchand and others have noted, the NBA will likely be unhappy about TNT exercising its rights matching clause. No such clause is expected to be included in any of the league’s new rights agreement deals. It is possible the NBA and TNT will try to reach some sort of financial settlement, or courts could become involved.

One potential issue for TNT could arise if the network does not have the capacity to match everything Amazon has offered the NBA, though TNT parent company Warner Bros. Discovery does own the streaming service Max.

The majority of fans will undoubtedly want the NBA to remain with TNT, as that would protect the future of one of the most popular sports shows in history .

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