Warner Bros. Discovery was banking on one last shot at holding onto NBA broadcasting rights and the NBA just blocked it into the rafters.
The league announced Wednesday that it had rejected WBD’s effort to use a matching rights clause in their previous contract to muscle their way back into the new deal, which had been agreed upon with Disney/ESPN, NBCUniversal, and Amazon and begins after the 2024-2025 season.
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon,” the NBA said in a statement. “Throughout these negotiations, our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans. Our new arrangement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable, and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements. All three partners have also committed substantial resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience. We are grateful to Turner Sports for its award-winning coverage of the NBA and look forward to another season of the NBA on TNT.”
WBD can now take its case to court if it feels strongly enough that it deserves a share of the new rights per its previous contract.
As previously reported , the terms of the new 11-year, $76-billion deals, which include both the NBA and WNBA, with each media company beginning with the 2026 NBA season.
Disney and ESPN will get exclusive rights to all NBA Finals and five WNBA Finals, as well as exclusive NBA Playoff packages, the right to launch a new NBA studio show, NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC and NBA Sunday Showcase packages, the NBA Draft, NBA Draft Lottery, NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, and all five Christmas Day games.
“As the media landscape continues to evolve, this forward-thinking agreement represents a significant and bold step in our mission to serve sports fans, anytime, anywhere, including opportunities to successfully navigate the global digital transition,” said ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro . “Through a premium collection of regular- and post-season game rights, culminating with the NBA Finals and WNBA Finals , plus studio and original content initiatives, we look forward to building upon our legacy of innovation with the NBA and continuing to play an important role in the extraordinary growth trajectory of the WNBA.”
NBCU will be able to show 100 regular-season games on NBC and Peacock, including 50 Peacock-exclusive national regular-season and postseason games. They also get six NBA Conference Finals series, a slew of playoff games, an “NBA Tip-Off” doubleheader, and three WNBA Finals series.
“We are excited to once again become long-term partners with the NBA and WNBA, as well as USA Basketball,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBCU Media Group . “With a unique presentation plan across NBCUniversal platforms during the regular season and postseason, as well as the midseason tentpole All-Star Game and events of All-Star Saturday, we have a strong slate that will help supercharge our overall content strategy across the portfolio.”
Amazon’s Prime Video gets exclusive global rights to 66 regular-season NBA games, including an opening week doubleheader, a new Black Friday NBA game, Knockout Round games of the Emirates NBA Cup, an in-season tournament’s Semifinals and Finals.
Prime Video also gets exclusive coverage of every game in the Play-In Tournament, first and second-round playoff games, and Conference Finals in six of the 11 years of the deal.
“NBA and WNBA basketball will serve as yet another cornerstone of the robust sports business our Prime Video team has built in just the last six years,” said Mike Hopkins, Head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios . “When combined with our original films and shows; partner streaming services; licensed content; and rent or buy titles – our sports offering is a major driver of Prime Video’s evolution into a genuine one-stop shop for everything our customers want in video.”
Plenty more to come in analyzing the final rights deals as well as what WBD and TNT do from here as Inside the NBA enters its final season .
[ Variety , ESPN , NBC , Amazon ]
The post NBA rejects Warner Bros. Discovery’s matching bid, officially announces deals with Amazon, Disney/ESPN, NBCU appeared first on Awful Announcing .
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