Warner Bros. Discovery suing NBA amid media rights deals

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) said Friday it is suing the National Basketball Association (NBA) amid its new media rights deals with other companies.

"Given the NBA’s unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights," TNT Sports, the sports television channels and broadcast divisions owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement.

"We strongly believe this is not just our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to keep watching our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed WBD video-first distribution platforms – including TNT and Max," it added.

The NBA rejected Warner Bros. Discovery's $1.8 billion per year proposal and announced Wednesday that it signed a new 11-year media rights agreements with The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video, which are expected to bring the league around $76 billion over 11 years.

The American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate says it matched Amazon's offer, while the NBA rejected its attempt to do so, as it tries to prevent the league from awarding the media rights to Amazon, or aims to win monetary damages, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in a New York court in Manhattan.

"Warner Bros. Discovery’s claims are without merit and our lawyers will address them," said NBA spokesman Mike Bass, according to a post on X.