WBD takes NBA to court in legal showdown over broadcast rights
CNN
Warner Bros. Discovery has filed a lawsuit against the NBA over the league’s rejection of its offer to match a bid from Amazon to broadcast the games for the next decade.
Warner Bros. Discovery has filed a lawsuit against the NBA after the league rejected its matching offer to broadcast the league’s games for the next decade, ending the media company’s four-decade relationship with the NBA. The suit, which was filed Thursday under seal in New York County Supreme Court, comes less than 48 hours after the NBA officially rejected WBD’s offer to match a $1.8 billion per year bid from Amazon, entering into new 11-year contracts with the ecommerce giant as well as NBCUniversal and Disney, starting with the 2025-26 season. “Given the NBA’s unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights,” a WBD spokesperson 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.” Mike Bass, an NBA spokesperson, responded to the lawsuit’s claims Friday, saying it is “without merit and our lawyers will address them.” Under the new agreements announced Wednesday — collectively worth $76 billion — national games will be distributed across Amazon Prime Video, NBC’s broadcast network and Peacock streaming service, and Disney’s ABC and ESPN platforms. Some 75 regular-season games will be nationally broadcast on TV. “Our new global media agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon will maximize the reach and accessibility of NBA games for fans in the United States and around the world,” Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, said in a statement Wednesday. “These partners will distribute our content across a wide range of platforms and help transform the fan experience over the next decade.”