In a significant legal move, Warner Bros. Discovery has filed a lawsuit against the NBA in an effort to secure broadcast rights for a package of live games. This action comes in response to the NBA’s recent agreements with major media companies, including Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon, which effectively ended the nearly 40-year partnership between the league and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Turner Sports.
The lawsuit aims to prevent the NBA from awarding the broadcasting rights to Amazon, which had secured a lucrative $1.8 billion-per-year deal for a package that includes regular-season games, the in-season tournament, and select playoff games. Alternatively, Warner Bros. Discovery is seeking monetary damages.
Warner Bros. Discovery claims to have exercised its matching rights as stipulated in its previous media deal with the NBA, which was established in 2014. This provision allows incumbent media partners the right of first refusal to retain their broadcasting position. However, the NBA has countered that Warner Bros. Discovery’s proposal to match the Amazon deal is invalid, arguing that the nature of the platforms is different. While Warner Bros. Discovery’s plan involved airing games on TNT and streaming them on Max, Amazon is exclusively a streaming service.
In its court filing, Warner Bros. Discovery contends that its matching rights should extend to the Amazon package due to the historical airing of many games from that package on cable television. As this legal battle unfolds, the outcome could have significant implications for the landscape of sports broadcasting and the relationships between media companies and major sports leagues.
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