Warner Bros. Discovery Takes Legal Action Over Loss of NBA Media Rights

The conflict between Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and the NBA over media rights has escalated to a legal battle. On Friday, the parent company of TNT Sports contested the NBA’s rejection of its media-rights matching offer and subsequent agreement with Amazon. The lawsuit was filed under seal in the New York State Supreme Court by WBD’s legal team from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

This comes after WBD attempted to match Amazon’s “C” package with the NBA, valued at approximately $1.8 billion per year, arguing it has met the terms and that the NBA cannot reject TNT Sports’ offer. However, the NBA maintains that WBD’s matching rights do not apply to an all-streaming package like Amazon’s.

WBD counters this argument in the complaint, stating that if TNT Sports and the NBA intended to differentiate between methods of content transmission—cable television, internet television, and satellite television—they would have done so in the agreement. Since no such distinction was made, WBD contends that the NBA’s rejection is unfounded.

In a partially redacted complaint, WBD alleges that the NBA breached their contract on three counts. The company is seeking both preliminary and permanent injunctions to prevent the NBA from granting the rights to Amazon or any other party. Additionally, WBD is asking the court to declare that it matched Amazon’s offer, entitling it to the media rights, and is seeking legal costs and other appropriate relief. Should the injunctions not be granted, WBD is also pursuing unspecified monetary damages.

WBD’s complaint further accuses the NBA of crafting the Amazon offer in a way that circumvented TNT Sports’ matching offer, suggesting the league included provisions it believed TNT Sports and WBD could not fulfil.

This legal action comes as WBD faces increasing pressure from investors, a declining stock price, and downgraded analyst ratings following the loss of NBA rights. The company is striving to maintain its association with the NBA amid the league’s apparent interest in exploring other broadcasting options. This dispute is set to become one of the most contentious rights battles in modern sports-media history.

In a statement, TNT Sports emphasised their stance: “Given the NBA’s unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights. 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.”

WBD’s complaint also states that it will suffer irreparable harm unless the NBA fulfils its contractual obligations. This harm includes the loss of unique and valuable rights, the benefits of broadcasting highly rated NBA content, competitive advantages with sports leagues and distributors, market share in the sports licensing market, immeasurable goodwill, and significant investments in building its NBA brand.

The NBA responded briefly to the lawsuit: “Warner Bros. Discovery’s claims are without merit and our lawyers will address them.”