NBA Rejects TNT's Bid to Join New Television Rights Agreement

The NBA declined TNT Sport's offer to continue as one of the league's broadcast partners beyond next season on Wednesday, and instead announced an 11-year agreement with other partners from 2025-26 through the 2035-36 season.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), the parent company of TNT, stated on Monday that they had matched one of the bids from the latest round of NBA television rights negotiations. It was reported that WBD matched the offer from newcomer Amazon, which is estimated to be an 11-year deal worth $1.8 billion per year.

Currently, WBD pays $1.4 billion per season on a nine-year deal that will expire after the 2024-25 season.

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However, the league announced that WBD's most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video's offer, and they have decided to move forward with a long-term agreement with Amazon.

Last week, the NBA's Board of Governors approved a new set of rights fees totaling $76 billion over 11 years with Amazon, Disney (owner of ABC and ESPN), and Comcast (owner of NBC).

"Our main goal throughout these negotiations has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans," the NBA statement read. "Our new partnership with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable, and streaming packages already included in our agreements with Disney and NBCUniversal. All three partners have also committed significant resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience."

TNT, as part of Turner Sports, has been broadcasting NBA games since 1989, making it the longest-standing media partner. It is also responsible for producing the popular pregame and postgame show, "Inside the NBA."

"We are grateful to Turner Sports for their award-winning coverage of the NBA and we look forward to another season of the NBA on TNT," the league stated on Wednesday.

WBD may take legal action in response. In the meantime, the NBA has proceeded with details of the new agreements, which include games being shown on NBCUniversal (NBCU), ABC, ESPN, NBC/Peacock, and Prime Video.

There will be approximately 75 regular-season games broadcasted on TV each season, an increase from the current minimum of 15 in the current agreement. All national games will also be available on streaming services Prime Video, Peacock, and ESPN's upcoming direct-to-consumer service.

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"Our new global media agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal, and Amazon will maximize the reach and accessibility of NBA games for fans in the United States and around the world," said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in a press release. "These partners will distribute our content across a wide range of platforms and help transform the fan experience over the next decade."

According to media reports, ESPN will pay $2.6 billion annually for the rights to the NBA Finals and other games, Comcast will pay the same for regular season and playoff games, and Amazon will pay $1.8 billion for a package that includes some playoff games, including conference finals series.