Amazon Prime Acquires NBA Broadcast Package // ESPN/AMAZON/NBC - 11 YEARS $76 BILLION Update Pg. 9

[navyblue]

Seems pretty clear cut, if they have the right of first refusal, then denying them the match is a violation of the contract. I wonder how that impacts the broadcast for next season if this is drawn out in the courts, might leave a ton of games not being broadcast at all if TNT wants to play hardball.

Issue is right of first refusal tends to be vaguely defined. NBA lawyers will come up with some random arguments that TNT didn’t truly match Amazon’s offer.

Sounds like some BS made up because they want Amazon lol

apparently the first right of refusal has been there in tnt contracts for some time, pre streaming era. So the streaming/new media market it's hard to define matching one package vs another. Tnt view is that it's merely financial based. While NBA/Amazon will view it more as public reach etc.

[Scase]

Seems pretty clear cut, if they have the right of first refusal, then denying them the match is a violation of the contract. I wonder how that impacts the broadcast for next season if this is drawn out in the courts, might leave a ton of games not being broadcast at all if TNT wants to play hardball.

Issue is right of first refusal tends to be vaguely defined. NBA lawyers will come up with some random arguments that TNT didn’t truly match Amazon’s offer.

Main point of contention is Amazon deal is streaming only plus has 200+ mil subscribers, vs tnt is cable + stream and only has about 100mil subscribers.

Plus Amazon has pledged to pay 3 years upfront. Tnt had to go find someone to front/loan then the money.

Yeah it always seemed like the smarter plan to go with the medium that is growing, and not dying lol.

[2019nbachamps]

Issue is right of first refusal tends to be vaguely defined. NBA lawyers will come up with some random arguments that TNT didn’t truly match Amazon’s offer.

Main point of contention is Amazon deal is streaming only plus has 200+ mil subscribers, vs tnt is cable + stream and only has about 100mil subscribers.

Plus Amazon has pledged to pay 3 years upfront. Tnt had to go find someone to front/loan then the money.

Yeah it always seemed like the smarter plan to go with the medium that is growing, and not dying lol.

First right of refusal is always a mess to define. It’s not as simple as financial matching. You also have other things that complicate it like payment terms, termination clauses, etc. NBA lawyers will just argue Amazon’s deal offers more financial certainty, etc.

Silver has been very clear he wants a mass streaming deal and Amazon has made the best offer. TNT is screwed IMO. Maybe NBA gives them an off ramp to avoid litigation by carving out a smaller package for TNT.

As a fan I prefer TNT over Amazon but mass streaming is better for the league as it’ll expand their reach. $2b is chump change for Amazon. They’ll recoup the money via ads, Prime membership, and marketing e-commerce.

[WuTang_CMB]

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[WuTang_CMB]

TNT Sports has informed the NBA it plans to use its matching rights to continue broadcasting the league games. The network is targeting the 11-year package signed by Amazon Prime Video, sources briefed on the move said.

While TNT has the contractual right to match an offer, per its current contract, the NBA is expected to decline the network’s right to take the agreed-upon Amazon package, sources briefed on the NBA’s plans said. The league’s preference is to honor the $1.8 billion per year contract it agreed to with Amazon.






The schism is expected to lead to more discussions with the cloud of a legal fight hanging over the future of the broadcast and streaming deals.

TNT’s intention to go after Amazon means that NBC is in the clear to join incumbent ABC/ESPN as a new partner when the deals are officially announced. NBC will have regular-season games exclusively on Peacock on Mondays, with NBC broadcasts on Tuesdays and Sundays. The Sunday package will begin after the NFL season. NBC will have the All-Star Game and a full slate of playoff games, including six conference finals. It is expected to pay around $2.5 billion per season over the 11 years.

ESPN will retain the NBA Finals every year and conference finals each of the 11 seasons, except for one, while doling out around $2.6 billion per year, a shade less than the $2.7 billion per season it pays the NFL.

The three entities, ESPN, NBC and Amazon or TNT, will pay an additional $2.2 billion in total over the 11 years for the WNBA.

“We’re proud of how we have delivered for basketball fans by providing best-in-class coverage throughout our four-decade partnership with the NBA,” TNT said in a statement. “In an effort to continue our long-standing partnership, during both exclusive and non-exclusive negotiation periods, we acted in good faith to present strong bids that were fair to both parties. Regrettably, the league notified us of its intention to accept other offers for the games in our current rights package, leaving us to proceed under the matching rights provision, which is an integral part of our current agreement and the rights we have paid for under it.

“We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them. This will allow fans to keep enjoying our unparalleled coverage, including the best live game productions in the industry and our iconic studio shows and talent, while building on our proven 40-year commitment for many more years. Our matching paperwork was submitted to the league today. We look forward to the NBA executing our new contract.”



Amazon declined to comment.

The NBA’s agreement with Prime Video calls for the streamer to have six conference finals, a full playoff slate, including the Play-In games and a regular-season package, highlighted by the In-Season Tournament and Thursday night basketball after Amazon concludes its Thursday night football responsibilities.

How TNT versus the NBA all plays out has countless unanswered questions. TNT, with its vaunted “Inside the NBA” studio show, will try to enforce a reluctant partner to stay in business with it. TNT Sports’ parent company’s CEO, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, has raised the possibility for months, which has allowed the league to strategize about the move.

As a way to compromise, the two sides could try to reach an agreement that keeps TNT in the NBA business or gives it some sort of financial settlement to go away.

If the entities can’t agree, ultimately, they could land in court with TNT suing to stay in business with the league, which would set up the unique possibility of the courts forcing the NBA to remain with a partner it wants to divorce.

While the exact matching language of the deals is not fully known, the package that Amazon has won is not exactly the same as TNT Sports’ current arrangement. For example, TNT’s present contract calls for the conference finals every year as compared to every other. The NBA and Amazon may have agreed to other rights that TNT cannot deliver.

In the future, the NBA will not have this matching rights issue. The Athletic reported last week that the new contracts with ESPN, NBC and Amazon do not offer any backend rights.

The NBA hoped to announce the new deals before the Olympics, which are featured on NBC, start Friday. If nothing is resolved in the next week, those plans may have to change.

The NBA, ESPN and TNT Sports still have one more year remaining on their current contracts, meaning the games will be televised as they have been this upcoming season. The new agreements will go into effect during the 2025-26 season.

[Scase]

Main point of contention is Amazon deal is streaming only plus has 200+ mil subscribers, vs tnt is cable + stream and only has about 100mil subscribers.

Plus Amazon has pledged to pay 3 years upfront. Tnt had to go find someone to front/loan then the money.

Yeah it always seemed like the smarter plan to go with the medium that is growing, and not dying lol.

First right of refusal is always a mess to define. It’s not as simple as financial matching. You also have other things that complicate it like payment terms, termination clauses, etc. NBA lawyers will just argue Amazon’s deal offers more financial certainty, etc.

Silver has been very clear he wants a mass streaming deal and Amazon has made the best offer. TNT is screwed IMO. Maybe NBA gives them an off ramp to avoid litigation by carving out a smaller package for TNT.

As a fan I prefer TNT over Amazon but mass streaming is better for the league as it’ll expand their reach. $2b is chump change for Amazon. They’ll recoup the money via ads, Prime membership, and marketing e-commerce.

I'm just waiting for proper streaming to come to canada. League pass sucks, the quality of broadcast TV is awful as well, Rogers/Bell "4K" is horrendous.

But we're no doubt screwed with all the blackout regulations etc.

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[Corson27]

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i suppose this could go to court if Warner wants to try to prove the NBA is refusing their right to match.

[douggood]

bring on the lawsuits

[WuTang_CMB]

I deal with ROFR's but they are normally just monetary and whatever obligations are in the agreement. Content and outreach is a different animal. NBA have to back this case. Curious how these one plays out

[WuTang_CMB]

NBC and Amazon (if they end up getting it) are going to blow Disney out of the water with their production. NBC sunday nights should be fun

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[WuTang_CMB]

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[WuTang_CMB]

oh baby. they got it back from fox

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[carlosey]

WBD is a joke of a company thats on its path to bankruptcy if they dont get absorbed by another entity. Their CEO is an idiot. Losing NBA rights after 35 years is significant, but Im certain that they dont have the cash to match and were just trying to save face.

[shmoosicle]

Yeah it always seemed like the smarter plan to go with the medium that is growing, and not dying lol.

First right of refusal is always a mess to define. It’s not as simple as financial matching. You also have other things that complicate it like payment terms, termination clauses, etc. NBA lawyers will just argue Amazon’s deal offers more financial certainty, etc.

Silver has been very clear he wants a mass streaming deal and Amazon has made the best offer. TNT is screwed IMO. Maybe NBA gives them an off ramp to avoid litigation by carving out a smaller package for TNT.

As a fan I prefer TNT over Amazon but mass streaming is better for the league as it’ll expand their reach. $2b is chump change for Amazon. They’ll recoup the money via ads, Prime membership, and marketing e-commerce.

I'm just waiting for proper streaming to come to canada. League pass sucks, the quality of broadcast TV is awful as well, Rogers/Bell "4K" is horrendous.

But we're no doubt screwed with all the blackout regulations etc.

Oh my god the TSN+ and SportsNet Live or whatever its called streams are such poor quality for being supposedly HD. I keep thinking I'm on the wrong settings because it looks like 480p.

[metafisical]

Regarding Amazon:

"The international live-game package rights extend worldwide, with the exception of Greater China, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands, with rights in Canada beginning in the 2026-27 NBA season."

Darn...

[TheRealDeal]

Isn’t this potentially good for us? One of the biggest things going against us is the fact that Canada doesn’t count towards TV ratings, so we rarely get exposure south of the border

If the TV rights extend to Canada now maybe they’ll feature us more

[WuTang_CMB]

Isn’t this potentially good for us? One of the biggest things going against us is the fact that Canada doesn’t count towards TV ratings, so we rarely get exposure south of the border

If the TV rights extend to Canada now maybe they’ll feature us more

this is only for US viewership. Canada will likely get fked so it wont matter.
Only thing IMO that is different is if we ever get games on Amazon. If its same as AppleTV/MLB, then the broadcast will be on there.