Warner Bros files lawsuit against NBA over Amazon media rights deal
Warner Bros. Discovery filed a lawsuit against the NBA on Friday after the company lost its media rights to Amazon.
WBD, the parent company of TNT, alleges the league breached its contract by rejecting WBD’s offer for a new media rights deal and instead signing a contract with Amazon, according to documents obtained by ESPN.
âGiven the NBAâs wrongful rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights,â TNT Sports said in a statement on Friday. âWe strongly believe this is not only our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to continue to watch our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we provide them across our widely distributed WBD video-first distribution platforms â including TNT and Max.â
In a statement released Friday, NBA spokesman Mike Bass said WBD’s claims “are baseless and our attorneys will address them.”
WBD’s lawsuit comes two days after the NBA announced an 11-year media rights deal worth nearly $76 billion with Disney, NBC and Amazon Prime Video, running from the 2025-26 season through the 2035-36 season.
WBD said Monday it had matched Amazonâs offer of $1.8 billion per year, up from the $1.4 billion WBD is now paying for a nine-year deal that expires after the 2024-25 season. With the NBA rejecting WBDâs offer, the league is ending a nearly four-decade partnership that began in the 1984-85 season.