ISTANBUL
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced Friday that it will sue the National Basketball Association (NBA) over its new media rights deals with companies.
“Given the NBA’s unjustified rejection of our offer to accommodate that of a third party, we have filed a lawsuit to enforce our rights,” said TNT Sports, the sports television networks and broadcast divisions owned and operated through from Warner Bros. Discovery, in a press release. Training
“We firmly believe that this is not only our contractual right, but also the most productive interest of enthusiasts who need to continue watching our industry-leading NBA content, with the selection and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed WBD video distribution platforms. including TNT and Max,” he added.
The NBA rejected Warner Bros. Discovery’s proposal of $1. 8 billion per year and announced Wednesday that it has signed a new 11-year media rights deal with The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video, which will bring the league about $76. billion in 11 years.
The U. S. multinational media and entertainment conglomerate claims to have responded to Amazon’s offer, while the NBA rejected its attempt as it tries to save the league from granting streaming rights to Amazon or seeks to compensate damages, according to a lawsuit. filed Friday in a New York court in Manhattan.
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s allegations are baseless and our lawyers will respond to them,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in an article in X.
“Obviously the NBA wanted to separate from us from the beginning. I’m not sure TNT ever had a chance,” said Charles Barkley, an NBA Hall of Famer and television analyst for TNT and CBS Sports.
“TNT matched the silver, but the league knows that Amazon and those tech corporations are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future. The NBA didn’t need to take them away,” he wrote on Instagram.
“It’s a sad day when owners and managers choose money over fans. It sucks,” he added.
Barkley works for TNT on the studio’s Inside the NBA showcase alongside Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, former NBA player Kenny Smith and sportscaster Ernie Johnson as a representative of its basketball gaming policy.