The fight for NBA media rights continues.
Warner Bros. Discovery said Monday that it had submitted the league’s corresponding offer for a new rights package that would begin with the 2025-2026 season. The company’s Turner Networks has been streaming the games since the 1980s.
But dating faltered as the league won superior bids from Comcast Corp. , Amazon and Walt Disney Co. ‘s ESPN. Comcast, the Philadelphia cable giant, is reportedly streaming the games on NBC and the streaming service Peacock.
Turner Sports said in a statement that the NBA has said it will accept offers from rival Warner Bros. Discovery. The company said it had reviewed the offers and, under the counterparty rights provisions of its contract, was ready to accept one. of them, although he did not specify which one.
Turner is targeting Amazon’s bid of $1. 8 billion a year for a suite of games that would move to Prime Video, according to other people familiar with the discussions who were not legally authorized to comment publicly.
“Our corresponding documents were submitted to the league today,” Turner said. “We look forward to the NBA executing our new contract. “
An NBA representative said the league is reviewing a similar offer.
The question of whether Turner’s offer is comparable to Amazon’s remains open. Like most sports leagues, the NBA wants its games to be viewable on a widely distributed streaming platform, where younger fans are more likely to watch them, which is the purpose of the package created for Amazon.
Turner’s channels are distributed via cable, which makes the young audience lose out. The NBA will have to determine whether Warner Bros. Discovery and its upcoming appearance on sports broadcaster Venu are comparable.
According to Nielsen data from June, Amazon’s Prime Video accounted for 3. 1% of all TV viewing in the United States, while Max accounted for 1. 4%.
Turner has earned sympathetic cries from lifelong fans who grew up watching the NBA and its iconic studio show, “Inside the NBA. ” But Warner Bros. Discovery is saddled with debt, which likely led to its refusal to meet the league’s demands of its exclusive Negotiating Era to renew the deal. Turner will pay $1. 2 billion a year for his current NBA package.
As it stands, the new NBA pact will last for years and pay $76 billion. Annually, the league would get $2. 7 billion from ESPN, which broadcasts the NBA Finals on the ABC broadcast network; $2. 5 billion from Comcast; and Amazon’s $1. 8 billion.
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