Warner Brothers Discovery are out the game with the NBA.
The Adam Sliver run league today rejected the David Zaslav-led media giant’s last ditch effort to keep some basketball rights for the 2024-2025 season
“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,” said the NBA in a statement Wednesday over a reported $1.8 billion offer.
“Throughout these negotiations, our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans,” the league added. “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.”
Even coming after the closing Stock Market bell today, that last line has to hurt as the now WBD -owned Turner Sports has carried NBA games for most of the past four decades.
WBD’s exclusive negotiating window with the League ended in April with no agreement and although talks continued the NBA is said to have settled on three other partners, incumbent Disney/ESPN as well as NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video. The 11-year deals, said to total about $76 billion, will start after the 2024-25 season.
WBD could instigate legal plays to try to score some rights, but at this point it would be a true Hail Mary at best
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