TNT Sports, according to sources briefed on the matter, has honed its sights on Amazon’s streaming-only agreement, which includes the playoffs, six conference finals, the In-Season Tournament and regular season action. Amazon’s deal is for around $1.93 billion per year.
TNT’s current nine-year contract includes backend rights, that from TNT’s point of view, allows it to simply say it wants to keep the NBA and will assume Amazon’s deal.
When the current agreements were signed a decade ago, streaming was on the horizon, but not part of the deals. This is why the two sides could end up in court.
Neither side would likely want to enter a legal case, where private conversations could become public during discovery. If TNT does file a suit, it could lead to more talks and a possible compromise with other NBA rights or financial possibilities being the outcome.
Both sides have been preparing for this scenario for a while. TNT Sports’ parent company’s CEO, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, has publicly stated that his network has the right to match.
The Athletic first reported that
Amazon had a framework agreement with the NBA in April. It has been a collision course ever since.
On its earnings call this week, NBC’s parent company, Comcast, said that its deal for NBA and WNBA games is, for the most part, completed. NBC will have six conference finals over the 11 years, a heavy amount of playoff games and the All-Star game. On Mondays during the regular season, Peacock will have exclusive games, while on Tuesdays and Sundays, NBC will have showcases. The Sunday Night package will dovetail after the
NFL season ends. NBC is paying around $2.5 billion per year.
