The legal battle of Warner Bros. Discovery with the NBA over the loss of its long-running rights package is over, and the resolution is as complicated as you’d expect.
By the Wall Street JournalWBD settled its breach of contract lawsuit with an agreement that will keep it in business with the NBA for the next decade, with the ability to develop new shoes with NBA content and international NBA rights in northern Europe and Latin American countries, except for Mexico. and Brazil.
The deal, however, does not keep NBA games on TNT, which will officially lose the rights it has owned since 1989 after this season.
The legal battle began when TNT Sports moved to match the 11-year, $1.8 billion deal the NBA struck with Amazon, which was part of the league’s plan to move into a streaming space where the NFL and MLB already reside. However, the NBA went on to announce that TNT did not actually match the deal.
TNT Sports responded by insisting that it was indeed in line with Amazon’s deal, claiming that the league had “grossly misinterpreted” their contractual rights. A lawsuit followed that threatened to throw a big wrench in the media plans of the NBA beyond this season.
The settlement will reportedly see WBD retain access to NBA content for its digital platforms at Bleacher Report and House of Highlights while also continuing to operate the NBA’s digital operations, including NBA TV.
“Inside the NBA” moving to ESPN and ABC
The most interesting quirk of the settlement is a separate deal in which WBD will reportedly license its flagship show “Inside the NBA” to ESPN and ABC starting next season. The fate of the Emmy-winning show featuring Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson has been one of the biggest subplots of the situation, and it looks like the show will survive with a new home.
Barkley went as far as announcing his retirement from broadcasting in June, but reversed course two months later.
The deal will also reportedly see ESPN sublicense Big 12 college football and basketball games to WBD to air on TNT and the Max streaming service.
The stakes of WBD’s battle with the NBA were high, as live sports remain one of the only ways to draw a large audience in a cord-cutting world. TNT Sports at least managed to get something out of its split from the NBA, but the end result will still be a huge change for the network.
