The NBA’s new media rights deal has yet to be announced, and right now, all signs indicate that the league is going to have two partners: Disney and NBCUniversal. As for the third, while the league entered into an agreement with Amazon, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it enacted its matching rights — while its exclusive negotiating window with the league came and went, the opportunity existed for Warner Bros. Discovery to match a deal if it wanted.
The problem: The NBA, per reports, did not view the ability to match as a purely financial one. And in a statement released by the league on Wednesday afternoon, its argument became clear, as the NBA stated that it is going to enter into an agreement with Amazon while thanking Turner Sports for its longtime partnership.
Here is the full statement:
Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon.
Throughout these negotiations, our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans. Our new arrangement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements. All three partners have also committed substantial resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience.
We are grateful to Turner Sports for its award-winning coverage of the NBA and look forward to another season of the NBA on TNT.
We’ll now have to wait and see if this becomes an issue that heads to the courts, as it’s unclear if the specific language in Warner Bros. Discovery’s contract was solely financial or, as the league appears to believe, goes into the ability to bring the NBA to more people.