NBA Announces Split From AEW Broadcast Partner Warner Bros Discovery
The NBA announced on Wednesday that it intended to leave Warner Bros. Discovery and TNT Sports in order to accept Amazon's 11-year broadcast deal.
Alongside a slew of sports programs on TV becoming available this year, including AEW, the NBA's decades-spanning relationship with TNT came under threat, with lucrative opportunities coming from NBC, ESPN, and Amazon Prime. TNT announced their intent to match the Amazon offer, citing it as a contractual right. However, it was announced that the NBA did not feel the offers matched up.
"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," the announcement read. "Throughout these negotiations, our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our game for our fans. Our new arrangement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming packages that are already part our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements."
According to NBA's following announcement, Amazon will stream 66 regular season games on Prime Video each season. That package will include Thursday night double-headers beginning in January, Friday evening double-headers, select Saturday afternoon games, and at least one game on Black Friday. Prime Video is also slated to air the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and championship game of the NBA Cup, alongside six NBA Play-In games, and two Conference finals in six of the 11 years in rotation with NBC starting with the 2026-27 NBA season.
TNT Sports has since announced they intend to take "appropriate action" against the basketball league.
TNT Sports' statement on NBA media rights: pic.twitter.com/9L3fiFXoDH
— TNT Sports U.S. PR (@TNTSportsUS) July 24, 2024
"We have matched the Amazon offer," TNT Sports wrote in a statement, "as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it... We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with the respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action."