Basketball (contracts) officially in TNT’s court
Network Must Decide if it Will Match TV Rights Deal or Lose NBA
That smell is the fuse burning to the end of the NBA TV rights negotiations. In what has been basketball news played out over months, TNT executives have the contracts and they are on the clock – until Monday – to decide if they want to match and keep the Association or lose it for the first time in 40 years.
There it is. Plain and simple. Put up billions to stay in the NBA game or watch from the sidelines as ESPN, NBC, and Amazon corral the league’s NBA TV rights.
How Much Will It Cost?
Basketball player contracts are exorbitant. One of the reasons is the sweet TV deals the league has had and will have going forward.
NBA news reports indicate ESPN will keep the “A” package at $2.8 billion per year, which means we will continue to have the great Mike Breen on calls. Amazon currently has a $1.8 billion deal, and NBC looks to grab NBA TV rights back by bidding $2.5 billion after losing the lead decades ago.
The league provides a bonanza in options for sports betting, which enhances its popularity despite TV ratings remaining flat or dipping through the years.
Overall, the three packages would add up to $76 billion.
Warner Bros. Discovery plans to match Amazon’s NBA TV rights deal worth $1.8B per year, per @CNBC
If they match, ‘INSIDE THE NBA’ might be around longer than 2025-2026
“It’s unclear if the NBA can reject Warner Bros. Discovery’s matching rights, and the league has prepared for… pic.twitter.com/UivdBy0PVD
— ScreenTime (@screentime) July 18, 2024
Report: WBD Will Try To Bump Amazon
CNBC reported Warner Brothers Discovery, TNT’s parent, will match the Amazon offer and knock it out of the game.
Warner Bros. Discovery intends to match a package of games slotted for Amazon, as CNBC first reported in May, which includes both playoff games and the in-season tournament, according to people familiar. Amazon signed a deal with the NBA to pay $1.8 billion per year for its package, they said.
This is where the plot thickens. Reports indicate the NBA believes it does not have to accept a match from TNT. If the league decides to follow that road, then a network with NBA TV rights could potentially sue the league during a season it will have its games.
The contracts would start in 2025-26, so legal entanglements between the NBA and TNT could arise as business partners. TNT also has the brilliant “Inside the NBA” show with Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and others. If there was a parting and the show ended, fans of sports and entertainment would be disappointed.
“I apologize that this has been a prolonged process because I know they’re committed to their jobs,” Silver said last month of Warner Bros. Discovery employees who work on NBA programming. “I know people who work in this industry; it’s a large part of their identity and their family’s identity, and no one likes this uncertainty. I think it’s on the league office to bring these negotiations to a head and conclude them as quickly as we can”
In the end, it comes down to business. Nothing more. Nothing less. The game clock on NBA TV rights is ticking. Will the final buzzer signal finality, or will there be, gasp, overtime in the courts … not basketball courts?
