NBA faces lawsuit from TNT over media rights bid: Report
After TNT allegedly matched Amazon's NBA rights bid earlier this week, it now sounds as though the two sides could be headed to court. According to a Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson, who released a statement on the NBA deciding to reject the network's offer in favor of Amazon's bid, the network has taken legal action against the league.
Although it's unclear what will come of the suit, the news of a lawsuit isn't entirely unexpected. After WBD revealed earlier in the week that they would be matching Amazon's bid to get in on the NBA's new media rights deal, reports suggested that the league preferred Amazon's bid.
As a result, the belief was that Warner Bros. Discovery would have to take the NBA to court if they wanted to force the league to honor their matching rights. This was then followed up by a report from the NBA, alleging that TNT's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, didn't actually match Amazon's terms after all.
Following the NBA announcing a new media rights deal with Disney (ESPN), NBC, and Amazon, a statement from Warner Bros. Discovery was released, with various outlets, including CNN, relaying the statement:
“Given the NBA’s unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights.
"We strongly believe this is not just our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to keep watching our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed WBD video-first distribution platforms - including TNT and Max.”
"The NBA has wanted to break up with us from the beginning" - Charles Barkley opens up on NBA-TNT split
Throughout the news regarding the NBA's media rights negotiations, there has been plenty of concern among fans that the Inside the NBA program would wind up getting canceled.
With Ernie Johnson likely to stay under contract with TNT, and Charles Barkley teasing retirement, the future of the show has been a hot topic in the NBA community. The network, along with various social media outlets, has used social media in an attempt to drub up support for the network.
On Friday, following the news that the NBA would be accepting Amazon's bid over Warner Bros. Discovery's, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley took to social media with his thoughts on the matter. He wrote, in part:
“Clearly the NBA has wanted to break up with us from the beginning. I’m not sure TNT ever had a chance. TNT matched the money, but the league knows Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future. The NBA didn’t want to piss them off.
"It’s a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans. It just sucks."
While there had been talk of Amazon potentially looking to acquire the award-winning group of Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson and Kenny The Jet Smith, from the sounds of things, Barkley seems likely to go through with retirement.