Warner Bros. Discovery has filed a lawsuit against the NBA for pursuing a $1.8 billion annual media rights deal with Amazon, even though WBD still holds the rights to the games as part of an existing agreement.
WBD argues that the NBA has the right to negotiate a deal that matches NBC or Amazon’s deals, which technically do not align with the “C” package the NBA claims is streaming-only.
“We have taken legal action to enforce our rights after the NBA wrongfully refused to match our third-party offers,” WBD said in a statement. “We firmly believe this is not only our contractual right, but is also in the best interest of our fans who want to continue to watch industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility offered by WBD’s widely distributed video-first distribution platforms, including TNT and Max.”
The NBA has signed an 11-year, $77 billion media rights deal with Disney, NBC and Amazon.
