NBA faces lawsuit from Warner Bros. Discovery over media rights

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) said Friday it is suing the National Basketball Association (NBA) amid its new media rights deals with other companies.

"Given the NBA’s unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights," TNT Sports, the sports television channels and broadcast divisions owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement.

"We strongly believe this is not just our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to keep watching our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed WBD video-first distribution platforms – including TNT and Max," it added.

The NBA rejected Warner Bros. Discovery's $1.8 billion per year proposal and announced Wednesday that it signed a new 11-year media rights agreement with The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video, which are expected to bring the league around $76 billion over 11 years.

The American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate says it matched Amazon's offer, while the NBA rejected its attempt to do so, as it tries to prevent the league from awarding the media rights to Amazon, or aims to win monetary damages, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in a New York court in Manhattan.

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"Warner Bros. Discovery’s claims are without merit and our lawyers will address them," said NBA spokesman Mike Bass, according to a post on X.

"Clearly the NBA has wanted to break with us from the beginning. I’m not sure TNT ever had a chance," said NBA Hall of Fame player and television analyst for TNT and CBS Sports, Charles Barkley.

"TNT matched the money, but the league knows Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future. The NBA didn’t want to piss them off," he wrote on Instagram.

"It’s a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans. It just sucks," he added.

Barkley works for TNT on the Inside the NBA studio show alongside another Hall of Fame player, Shaquille O'Neal, former NBA player Kenny Smith, and sportscaster Ernie Johnson as a pundit for its coverage of basketball games.