The NBA has fired its latest salvo in a brewing Cold War with its longtime partner in TNT.
On Wednesday, the NBA said that TNT “did not match the terms” of Amazon’s rights bid and that Amazon will be a new streaming partner for the league.
In response, TNT issued a statement asserting that it had the “contractual right” to match, and threatened litigation.
Earlier this week, TNT, a division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and an NBA partner since 1989, announced it had matched a competing bid to remain rights partners with the league.
While TNT did not name the company’s bid that it was matched, sources confirmed to The Post that it was Amazon.
Disney’s ESPN/ABC is keeping a majority of its NBA rights, including the NBA Finals, and Comcast’s NBC is also returning to the fold as a rights partner after more than 20 years out of the game.
The 11-year deal also includes WNBA rights, including broadcasting the finals, split amongst the three partners. In the deal, ESPN has five WNBA Finals, while NBC and Amazon have three apiece. ESPN will remain the exclusive rightsholder of the WNBA All-Star Game.
“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.”
TNT issued a fiery statement in return.
“We have matched the Amazon offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it,” TNT’s statement said.
“In doing so, they are rejecting the many fans who continue to show their unwavering support for our best-in-class coverage, delivered through the full combined reach of WBD’s video-first distribution platforms — including TNT, home to our four-decade partnership with the league, and Max, our leading streaming service. We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action. We look forward, however, to another great season of the NBA on TNT and Max including our iconic ‘Inside the NBA.’”
TNT’s last deal with the NBA included “back-end rights” to match competing bids.
One of the potential reasons why the NBA believes TNT’s bid could not match Amazon’s is that Amazon’s Prime Video has about twice as much global reach as WBD’s Max streaming platform.
There is still one year remaining on the deal, so TNT has another season of the NBA.
It has been a widespread belief in industry circles that WBD could sue the NBA to enforce its matching rights.
While it’s unknown whether WBD could emerge victorious in litigation, there is also the possibility that it can gum up the process of Amazon’s hiring of broadcasters and production staffers in the ramp-up to the new rights deal in 2025.
It is conceivable that there could be a way for WBD/TNT to keep a sliver of NBA rights, but that would require ESPN, NBC and Amazon to give up some of the inventory they agreed to.