Warner Bros. Discovery filed a lawsuit in opposition to the NBA in New York Supreme Court on Friday after shedding media rights to Amazon.
Warner Bros. Discovery, TNT’s mother or father firm, alleges that the league breached its contract by declining WBD’s provide for a brand new media rights deal and as an alternative signing with Amazon, in keeping with paperwork obtained by ESPN.
“Given the NBA’s unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights,” TNT Sports mentioned in a press release Friday. “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 with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed WBD video-first distribution platforms — including TNT and Max.”
In a press release launched Friday, NBA spokesman Mike Bass mentioned WBD’s claims “are without merit, and our lawyers will address them.”
WBD’s lawsuit comes two days after the NBA introduced an 11-year media rights deal value nearly $76 billion with Disney, NBC and Amazon Prime Video. The deal runs from the 2025-26 season by way of the 2035-36 season.
WBD mentioned Monday that it had matched Amazon’s provide of $1.8 billion per yr, up from the $1.4 billion that WBD is paying now on a nine-year deal that expires following the 2024-25 season.
With the NBA declining to just accept WBD’s provide, the league is ending an almost four-decade partnership that started within the 1984-85 season.
Source: www.anews.com.tr