Warner Bros. Discovery has filed a lawsuit against the NBA for proceeding with a $1.8 billion per year media rights deal with Amazon despite WBD holding match rights as the incumbent party under their current contract.
WBD claims they had the contractual authority to match either NBC or Amazon’s deal, ultimately choosing to match the “C” package that the NBA argues is solely for streaming and was not precisely matched.
“Given the NBA’s refusal to accept our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to uphold our rights,” WBD mentioned in a statement. “We firmly believe this is not only our contractual prerogative but also in the best interest of fans who desire to continue watching our top-notch NBA content with the choice and flexibility we provide through our widely available WBD video-first distribution platforms – including TNT and Max.”
The NBA entered into a collective 11-year, $77 billion media rights deal with Disney, NBC, and Amazon.
