Warner Bros. Discovery reportedly preparing to sue NBA over rights rejection

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Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly preparing to sue the NBA after its matching offer for portions of the broadcast rights to the league’s games was rejected July 25, 2024.

NBA announces 11-year rights deal with Disney, NBCUniversal, Amazon

On July 22, 2024, it was revealed that WBD had submitted paperwork matching a reported $1.8 billion offer from Amazon for a selection of NBA broadcast rights.

However, on July 25, the NBA announced it had finalized agreements with NBC, Disney and Amazon, snubbing WBD and its TNT Sports division, which has been a broadcast partner with the league for 40 years.

Combined, NBC, Disney and Amazon will pay around $77 billion over 11 years.

WBD stock dipped around 5% after news that had been left out of the NBA deal, a loss valued at around $1 billion in market value, though that could be fully or partially restored if the stock bumps back up.

It is not immediately clear why the NBA rejected WBD’s matching offer. 

After news surfaced earlier that WBD might be outbid for the NBA rights, there were also reports that language in the agreements between the league and media giant was a bit vague about how a matching offer might work. Attorneys on both sides reportedly were scrambling to review the wording.

For its part, the NBA would seemingly appear confident that it has the right to proceed with Amazon over WBD from a legal perspective, though attorneys for WBD would likely disagree on that point if they are preparing to move forward with a suit.

Under the agreement announced July 25, Amazon will hold rights to 66 regular-season games, six Play-In Tournament matchups and alternate rights for Conference Finals series with NBCUniversal. 

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