Warner Bros. Discovery to Match Amazon’s New NBA Rights Deal

NBA owner Warner Bros. Discovery plans to match Amazon’s new basketball rights deal, which is reportedly worth $1.8 billion, according to Deadline.

WBD’s exclusive negotiating period with the league ended in April without a deal, and while talks continue, the NBA has reportedly chosen three other partners, Disney/ESPN, as well as NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video. The 11-year deals, reportedly worth about $76 billion, will begin after the 2024-25 season.

Without publicly confirming the names, Commissioner Adam Silver said at a news conference last night that the league had approved “this step of these media proposals.”

“But as you know, there are other rights that need to be negotiated with existing partners. I have to say up front that there will be quite a few things I won’t be able to talk about yet about those media deals because they haven’t been finalized yet,” he continued, almost certainly referring to WBD, which has corresponding rights built into its current deal.

When WBD is notified of the new deals, it will have five days to match them. The media conglomerate will opt for Amazon’s offer because it is the least expensive of the three. Asked at the press conference whether the five-day countdown had begun, Silver said: “I can’t get into the details of those machinations.”

Turner Sports has broadcast NBA games for most of the past four decades. Max is now also in the running to match Amazon’s streaming deal and games could be simulcast on TNT.

According to media reports, talks about the rapprochement could become complicated, even contentious.

WBD had also proposed to the NBA to create a fourth, smaller package, although it is unclear whether that is an option.