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‘Furious’ WBD weighing legal options to keep NBA on TNT as league ‘got it wrong’ rejecting offer to match Amazon deal
The move ends a storied partnership that spanned nearly three decades
THE messy tug-of-war between Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA over a new TV rights deal might get even messier.
WBD's legal team is weighing options to keep the games on TNT Sports despite the league's rejection of its matching offer for Amazon's $1.8 billion bid, The U.S. Sun has learned.
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In a statement that sent shockwaves through the sports world on Wednesday, the NBA said that WBD's "proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video's offer."
With that, the league proclaimed Amazon as the new media partner alongside ESPN and NBC as part of a landmark 11-year deal worth nearly $77 billion, which is set to start after the 2024-25 season.
Amazon execs rejoiced with the streaming giant quick to unveil plans for a new Black Friday game after the announcement.
TNT, on the other hand, responded with a stark warning, saying that the league "grossly misinterpreted" its matching rights and vowed to "take appropriate action."
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The U.S. Sun has been told that WBD doesn't intend to wave the white flag just yet.
"It is a massive blow, a huge disappointment," a TNT insider close to the negotiations with the NBA said, noting commissioner Adam Silver's history of labeling the network as an "important partner."
The NBA-TNT relationship dates back to 1989 with the cult Inside the NBA studio show – currently featuring Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley – being the most prominent fruit it has yielded.
"They are making a huge mistake – and a legal mistake in our opinion," the source said.
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The insider insisted the matching offer that WBD submitted before Monday's deadline was a "fair" one and that the company did all it could to get the TV deal renewed.
TNT sent the proposal with "confidence" that it would remain the NBA's broadcast partner, although not completely without fears about the outcome given the circumstances, the source said.
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With those fears becoming reality about 48 hours later, the insider continued, the network was quick to get lawyers involved.
"The legal team is already working on the next steps," the source said, adding the company's understanding of the previous contract was that it would be in a favorable position to be part of the new deal.
"We all think that the NBA is wrong and going to be involved in a huge legal battle as the terms of the previous contract were clear and gave us the opportunity to match."
With the exact language of the current TNT-NBA deal and the matching clause unknown, it's not clear on what grounds the WBD-owned network could contest the league's decision.
Inside the NBA's future?
Inside the NBA's run on TNT Sports is in major doubt due to the NBA's broadcasting deals.
The Emmy-winning sports show is a fan favorite thanks to the likes of Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley.
But TNT's broadcast deal with the NBA is up after next season and NBC looks set to take those rights in a $2.6bn deal.
If TNT loses its NBA package, it raises serious questions over the popular Inside the NBA.
One solution could be to recreate the show on another network, which snaps up the NBA rights.
A potential legal dispute would be made all the more complicated by the fact that the last TV rights contracts were written in 2014 – before the advent of the pre-streaming era — making TNT's rights to match difficult to interpret today.
Still, TNT thinks it could emerge victorious and prevent the breakup from happening, per the source.
"We believe the NBA doesn’t have the right to reject our matching offer by any means," the insider said.
"It’s going to be tough, but we will get ready for a legal battle to get our contract and its clauses respected."
The source added, "We are in the right, and the NBA got it wrong by rejecting our offer."
A TNT-NBA breakup would be painful considering how the bond between the two sides tightened over the years.
In the late 2000s, then-Turner Sports took over NBA TV's operations with the channel's programs being produced at the company's Atlanta studios to this day.
Last year, TNT Sports became the home of the NBA in the UK after launching in the British market – with most of the programming coming from Atlanta.
Inside the NBA featured prominently in the network's efforts to promote the brand in the UK, The U.S. Sun reported in November.
Asked if the freshly boosted international reach of TNT's basketball content could lean into the domestic media rights negotiations, WBD sports executive vice president and chief content officer Craig Barry said at the time, "I would like to think that it matters."
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The media giant also cherished the role of the "ambassador" to the NBA as the UK and US divisions of TNT Sports came together in the exciting, new global venture, Barry said.
WBD reportedly filed a lawsuit against the NBA in New York County Supreme Court on Friday, according to The Athletic's sports legal analyst Daniel Wallach.
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