Warner Bros. Discovery Sues NBA, Pushes Rights Showdown to Court

August 2024 · 6 minute read

Warner Bros. Discovery took its efforts to keep NBA games on its cable and streaming properties to court Friday, filing a suit against the NBA in the Supreme Court in the State of New York, an effort that will likely serve to complicate its relationship with the sport that generates so much revenue for its flagship TV networks.

The two entities, which shared a partnership for more than three decades, are now at loggerheads after the NBA turned down a bid by Warner to attempt to match a deal the league has in place with streaming giant Amazon. The league on Wednesday unveiled new 11-year deals with Amazon, Disney and NBCUniversal that will give them the right starting in 2026 to show various game packages. Warner believes its current pact with the NBA gives it the right to match an offer from any party that might take control of the games it currently shows.

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“Given the NBA’s unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights,” Warner said in a statement. “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.”

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“Warner Bros. Discovery’s claims are without merit and our lawyers will address them,” the NBA said in a statement. An attorney representing Warner, David Yohai of Weil Gotschal & Manges LLP, did not respond immediately to a query seeking comment.

At issue is whether Warner’s bid to run the games across its TNT cable network and its Max streaming hub is viewed as tantamount to a package Amazon was awarded to stream NBA games on its flagship Prime Video service. Warner maintains it is, but the NBA appears to believe the Amazon deal offers it wider each among streaming customers that Max may not yet be able to offer. In the recent past, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said the league needs to move beyond cable networks, where viewership has been dropping significantly as one-time linear subscribers migrate to broadband streaming hubs.

In the court filing, Warner said it “has the right to match any ‘Third Party Offer’ for future NBA telecast rights,” and noted that “TBS timely exercised these matching rights by accepting a Third Party Offer on the same material terms and conditions that the NBA was willing to accept from Amazon. The NBA, however, has breached the Agreement and deliberately refused to honor TBS’s rights, forcing
TBS and WBD to seek judicial intervention.”

The company also said it “will suffer irreparable harm” if it loses the NBA rights, and will have to grapple with “the loss of a unique and valuable asset, and loss of goodwill, key talent, subscribers, and incalculable affiliate fees and advertising revenues.”

If the two sides can’t settle the matter in advance of the 2025-2026 basketball season, Warner said it will “seek a preliminary and permanent injunction against the NBA enjoining the NBA and/or the Defendant
Affiliates from granting TBS’s rights to Amazon or any other party.” The company also suggested it is open to “monetary damages in an amount to be determined at trial.”

Plaintiffs will seek a preliminary and

FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 07/26/2024 12:33 PM INDEX NO. 653721/2024NYSCEF DOC. NO. 10 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 07/26/202426 of 29 27 permanent injunction against the NBA enjoining the NBA and/or the Defendant Affiliates from granting TBS’s rights to Amazon or any other party.

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