WBD, guardian of TNT Sports, matches Amazon’s bid for NBA rights

TNT Sports may not be out of the NBA broadcast game yet.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), TNT’s parent company, announced Monday it had matched one of the offers from the latest round of NBA television rights negotiations.

Several reports indicated that TNT matched the bid of newcomer Amazon, estimated to be 11 years for $1.8 billion per year.

The NBA received proposals from NBC and Amazon earlier this month. ABC/ESPN, owned by Disney, would retain the “A package,” which includes the NBA Finals. The “B package” would go to NBC and Amazon planned to have the “C package” stream on Prime Video. The NBA Board of Governors approved the deals, worth a combined $76 billion, last week.

Turner, a longtime NBA partner known for the studio show “Inside the NBA,” is now trying to get back in on the action.

“In an effort to continue our long-standing partnership, during both exclusive and non-exclusive negotiation periods, we acted in good faith to present strong bids that were fair to both parties,” TNT Sports said in a statement. “Regrettably, the league notified us of its intention to accept other offers for the games in our current rights package, leaving us to proceed under the matching rights provision, which is an integral part of our current agreement and the rights we have paid for under it.

“We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them. This will allow fans to keep enjoying our unparalleled coverage, including the best live game productions in the industry and our iconic studio shows and talent, while building on our proven 40-year commitment for many more years.

The statement, which the NBA has yet to comment on, finished by leaving the ball in the league’s court.

“Our matching paperwork was submitted to the league today. We look forward to the NBA executing our new contract.”

WBD is currently paying $1.4 billion per season on a nine-year deal that expires after the 2024-25 season.

–Field Level Media