The NBA announced its new media rights deal on Wednesday afternoon and shared that Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT) failed to match Amazon’s bid.
The league said that Amazon Prime will be one of the broadcast partners beyond the 2024-25 season, along with Disney and NBCUniversal.
However, this didn’t sit well with TNT, who have been the NBA’s broadcast partner since 1989 and host the hugely popular postgame show Inside the NBA.
In a statement released on Wednesday, following the NBA’s statement, TNT Sports (a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery) vowed to ‘take appropriate action’ against the NBA.
“We have matched the Amazon offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it,” TNT 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.
Many reports in the lead up to this point said that the NBA weren’t going to agree with Warner Bros. Discovery on this, and make the argument that Amazon’s offer went beyond a financial commitment.
Which is what the league said in a statement.
“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,” the NBA said in its statement. “All three partners have also committed substantial resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience.”
Whether this battle will continue in a courtroom remains to be seen.
