The NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT, could be soon settling their ongoing legal battle over the league’s new media rights agreement.
On Wednesday, it was reported the two sides could be discussing settlement talks, per a report in Front Office Sports.
“I know [both sides] want to solve this,” says one source in the FOS report. “It has to be soon. They don’t want to let it drag on,” another source said.
The NBA sent shockwaves through the media world when the league announced that they would be ending their nearly 40-year partnership with TNT once its new media rights deal with ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, and NBC begins next season. Once that deal was announced, TNT filed a lawsuit alleging that the NBA “grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights” in a statement after the network reportedly matched the Amazon offer.
Before the NBA agreed to its new deal, it was reported back in June that TNT and the league were negotiating a fourth package that would keep games on the network. With TNT’s Inside the NBA being a staple for fans, it would be an added incentive for viewers if the league could remain on the network in some form. Sources in the FOS report heard that it was a possibility.
“A settlement that precludes a lengthy and expensive trial in 2025 makes sense for the NBA as well as TNT, said other sources. Both companies would prefer that confidential, and possibly embarrassing, contractual details be shielded from public view,” per the FOS report.
Since WBD announced they were taking legal action against the NBA back in July, the professional basketball league’s media landscape has seen a major shift.
The NBA’s largest Regional Sports Network broadcaster FanDuel Sports Network has announced its emergence out of bankruptcy. Upon its emergence, 13 NBA teams will remain on FDSN, which has created new strategies to attract more viewers to its networks. Fans will soon have the option to watch a single game for $6.99, in addition to FanDuel Sports Networks monthly and yearly subscription plans. Plus, the network struck a deal with Amazon to stream its RSNs as Prime Channels for wider distribution.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said the current RSN model is “broken” as more teams have switched to free OTA broadcasts and their own direct-to-consumer streaming platforms. If TNT and the NBA were to agree to a fourth rights deal as part of a settlement, the inventory of games could be of those broadcasted on RSNs.
Another complication between the NBA and WBD is the future of NBA TV and whether it will shut down. The network, which is owned by the NBA and operated by WBD through TNT Sports, has seen its reach decline from 60 million households to 35 million over the past decade. TNT Sports employees have been handling the network since 2008, but with the new media deal, the NBA could transition to a streaming platform; use one of its new media partners; handle the operations in-house; or shut down the network altogether due to its declining viewership.
As for TNT Sports, it has been beefing up its sports programming since the NBA announced it was going in another direction. Basketball fans will be happy to know that the network agreed to a multi-year deal with Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 women’s professional basketball league beginning in January 2025. Every game of the upstart league will also stream on Max.
College football games, including the College Football Playoffs, and NASCAR have been added to the TNT Sports lineup. Plus, last month, WBD and All Elite Wrestling agreed to a multi-year deal that would allow Max subscribers to stream shows live and on-demand for the first time beginning in January 2025.
As for the next steps in the lawsuit, FOS reports: “A motions hearing is scheduled for Nov. 22, in which Supreme Court of the State of New York Judge Joel M. Cohen will hear arguments on whether to keep some of the filings under seal. Another hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17, when Cohen would take up the NBA’s motion to dismiss the case.”
[Credit: Front Office Sports]