Getty Images
Warner Bros. Discovery has not publicly reviewed the NBA's impending media rights deal and likely won't get access to it until next Wednesday, but sources say the company plans to focus on matching Amazon's $1.8 billion annual bid, which it considers the most financially responsible package.
In particular, sources said WBD viewed NBCUniversal's concurrent $2.5 billion annual bid (which reportedly included Sunday night basketball games the week after the NFL season ends, Tuesday night national games, Monday night games streamed on Peacock, Sunday games, NBA All-Star Weekend, etc.) as too expensive and has no intention of matching it.
“WBD believes NBC will lose hundreds of millions of dollars financially from this deal,” an industry source said.
Instead, WBD wants Amazon's proposed “C” package, which includes biennial conference finals, weekly games broadcast on a Friday or Saturday night, Thursday night games after the NFL season, the Emirates NBA Cup, an early round playoff package similar to NBA TV's current deal, and international broadcast rights.
But in what one source described as a “gray area,” the NBA doesn't believe a near-linear broadcast network like Turner's TNT can compete with a streaming company like Amazon Prime Video. Conversely, according to a person with knowledge of WBD's position, WBD has argued it can match any part of the package it gets directly from Amazon's current deal — like Thursday night games or the conference finals — and if not, it's considering matching Amazon's entire bid.
read more
Sources say that despite its recent media rights deals for the French Open, College Football Playoff, Big East and Mountain West, WBD still has the budget to match Amazon's package or even create a fourth, smaller package with the NBA, though NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is generally opposed.
The NBA's next move is to present a $76 billion, 11-year deal to the board of governors in Las Vegas on Tuesday, where it is expected to be approved. Many of the league's owners have faced reduced local broadcast rights fees, primarily due to Diamond Sports Group's bankruptcy proceedings, and the $76 billion figure, essentially triple the amount from the last media rights deal, should provide some relief. Sources also say the league is denying claims that NBC, Amazon and ESPN (which bid about $2.6 billion per year for the “A” package) overpaid. Sources say Silver sees NBA rights as a “growth stock.”
Read more: NBA media rights breakdown
If the BOG approves the deal, the league is expected to formally submit the package to current partner WBD on Wednesday, which will then have five days to match or seek to match the amount.
WBD's main competitive argument, according to sources, may be that Max does not have the 200 million ad-supported viewership worldwide that Amazon Prime Video has, but it does have its own streaming outlet called Max. However, WBD is available in over 220 countries and territories in 50 languages, which WBD believes is enough to rival Amazon. However, in the U.S. alone, Prime Video accounts for 3% of how Americans watch TV (out of all platforms), according to Nielsen's latest data from May, while Max only accounts for 1.2%. The NBA and Silver do not agree with WBD's argument, which would have obvious legal ramifications if WBD were to try to rival Amazon.
“Adam 100 percent believes he's going to get sued,” a source close to the negotiations told SBJ on Wednesday. “Everyone is [in the NBA] Preparations for litigation are underway.
Silver has made it clear in past interviews that streaming is a big focus for the league's broadcasting future, with a clear preference for the customizability and mobility it brings, especially to younger generations. Indeed, industry leaders today praised the NBA for partnering with a streamer like Amazon when its next media deal kicks off in 2025-26.
“I think it's about reach,” Playfly Sports president Craig Sloan said. “I think it's about the next generation, where are my kids, my grandkids going to be in the future. They're already conditioned to watch video through platforms like Amazon Prime. They're always on Amazon Prime, they're always on Netflix, and so on. So I believe that as a sports organization we have to have a foot in that world.”
