NBA denies TNT’s try and be a part of new TV rights deal

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.

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.

“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