NBA denies TNT's attempt to be part
of new TV rights deal
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[July 25, 2024]
The NBA rejected TNT Sport's proposal to remain one of the
league's broadcast partners past next season on Wednesday, then
announced an 11-year agreement with other partners from 2025-26
through the 2035-36 season.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), TNT's parent company, said Monday that
it had matched one of the offers from the latest round of NBA
television rights negotiations. Reportedly, WBD was matching the bid
of newcomer Amazon, estimated to be 11 years for $1.8 billion per
year.
WBD is currently paying $1.4 billion per season on a nine-year deal
that expires after the 2024-25 season.
The league, however, said in a release that WBD's most recent
proposal didn't match the terms of Amazon Prime Video's offer and it
was moving forward with a long-term agreement with Amazon.
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The NBA's Board of Governors last week approved a new set of rights
fees reportedly totaling $76 billion over 11 years with Amazon,
Disney, which owns ABC and ESPN, and Comcast, which owns NBC.
"Throughout these negotiations, our primary objective has been to
maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans," the
NBA statement read. "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. All three partners have also committed substantial
resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience."
TNT, as part of Turner Sports, has broadcast league games since
1989, making it the longest-running media partner. It produces the
popular "Inside the NBA" pregame and postgame shows.
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"We are grateful to Turner Sports for its
award-winning coverage of the NBA and look forward to another season
of the NBA on TNT," the league said Wednesday.
WBD could counter with legal action. In the meantime, the NBA moved
ahead with details of the new agreements to show games on
NBCUniversal (NBCU), ABC, ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Prime Video.
There will be about 75 regular-season games on
broadcast TV each season, an increase from the minimum of 15 in the
current agreement. All national games will be available on streaming
services Prime Video, Peacock and ESPN's upcoming direct-to-consumer
service.
"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," NBA Commissioner
Adam Silver said in a press release. "These partners will distribute
our content across a wide range of platforms and help transform the
fan experience over the next decade."
According to media reports, ESPN will pay $2.6 billion annually for
rights to the NBA Finals and other games, Comcast will pay the same
for regular season and playoff games, and Amazon will pay $1.8
billion for a package including some playoff games, including
conference finals series.
--Field Level Media
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