Warner Bros. Discovery continued to threaten “appropriate action” against the NBA for rejecting the broadcast rights offer. Diversity informed On Friday, the media company sued the league in New York State Supreme Court after the NBA rejected an offer to match Amazon’s streaming package. It starts in the 2025-26 season.
The conflict stems from Warner’s belief that his current contract gives him the right to match any offer that would (and symbolically) replace Warner’s TNT for NBA games. Inside the NBA) in the upcoming contract. As for the league’s position, Athletic informed The NBA disagrees with Warner’s contention that current contracts are signed when streaming is “on the horizon but not part of the deals.”
The lawsuit was expected as the league announced a new broadcast and streaming package including Disney (ABC and ESPN) and Comcast (NBC). According to the report, the NBA has told Warner that it has declined a matching offer because it wants to play all of its games its streaming service, Max, in addition to TNT. Amazon allegedly offered to pay for the first three years in full, while Warner offered a three-year line of credit. Ultimately, the NBA reportedly believes Amazon’s reach is simply bigger.
“Warner Bros. “Discovery’s most recent offer was inconsistent with the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer, and therefore we have entered into a long-term agreement with Amazon,” the NBA said in a statement on Wednesday.
If Warner can’t force the NBA’s hand, a new deal will almost certainly mean the end of him Inside the NBA. Starring Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, the decades-long sports show rarely used a mix of comedy, chemistry and (sometimes taking a backseat to the first two) sports analysis. The beloved program, which has won 19 Sports Emmy Awards, began as Johnson’s solo effort in 1989 and developed a tight-knit cast over the following years and (in Shaq’s case) decades.
Turner has been with the NBA since the 1984-85 season, which coincided with Barkley’s (and Michael Jordan’s) entry into the league out of college.
Barkley accused the NBA of wanting to “break up with us early” after hearing about the new rights package. statement In X. Adding, “I’m not sure TNT ever had a chance,” the Hall of Famer described it as “a sad day when owners and commissioners chose money over fans.”
“It’s just bad,” Barkley wrote before thanking Turner’s fans over the past 24 years on the show. Inside the NBA It will return next season, along with the network’s standard NBA games, possibly the last, before a new deal kicks in in the 2025-26 season.
