NEWSLETTER
Warner Bros. Discovery has made good on its threat to “take appropriate action” against the NBA for rejecting its streaming rights offer. Variety reported on Friday that the media company sued the league in New York State Supreme Court after the NBA rejected its offer to match amazon's streaming package that kicks in starting with the 2025-26 season.
The conflict stems from Warner's belief that its current contract gives it the right to match any offer that replaces Warner's TNT as the home of NBA games (and the iconic Inside the NBA) in the next agreement. As for the league's position, The athletic reported that since the current deals were signed when streaming was “on the horizon, but not part of the deals,” the NBA disagrees with Warner's claim.
The lawsuit was expected as soon as the league announced its new streaming and broadcasting package, which also includes Disney (ABC and ESPN) and Comcast (NBC). The NBA reportedly told Warner that it rejected its matching offer because it wanted to put all of its games on its streaming service, Max, in addition to TNT. amazon also reportedly offered to pay for its first three years in full, while Warner offered a three-year line of credit. Ultimately, the NBA reportedly believed amazon’s reach was simply greater.
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent proposal did not align with the terms of amazon Prime Video’s offer and therefore we have entered into a long-term agreement with amazon,” the NBA’s statement on Wednesday read.
Unless Warner can force the NBA's hand, the new deal will almost certainly mean the end of Inside the NBAThe decades-old sports show, which stars Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal, has managed to unusually blend comedy, chemistry and (sometimes putting the first two on the back burner) sports analysis. The beloved show, which has won 19 Sports Emmys, began in 1989 as a solo project for Johnson before rounding out its tight-knit cast over the ensuing years and (in Shaq's case) decades.
Turner has been a partner of the NBA since the 1984-85 season, which coincided with Barkley's (and Michael Jordan's) entry into the league after college.
Barkley lashed out at the NBA after learning of the new rights package, accusing it of wanting to “break us up from the beginning” in a x.com/BleacherReport/status/1816840576060522820″ rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:statement;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:5;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”>statement in x. Adding, “I'm not sure TNT ever had a chance,” the Hall of Famer described it as “a sad day for owners and commissioners to choose money over fans.”
“It's bullshit,” Barkley wrote before thanking Turner's fans for the past 24 years he's been on the show. Inside the NBA will return next season, perhaps its last, along with the network's standard programming of NBA games, before the new deal begins in the 2025-26 season.
