The NBA vs. TNT fight has taken another step in the battle over media rights, which the NBA has said is over. TNT’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, has said not so fast.
All of this is interesting because TNT will indeed carry NBA games this season. But that’s expected to be it — as the league has shifted its media rights to NBC and Amazon Prime (while retaining Disney-owned ESPN/ABC).
Anyway, as you probably are aware, the NBA already said goodbye to TNT and thanked the network for its excellent coverage through the years. TNT responded by suing the league. The outlet alleged that the league failed to follow through on a right to match the agreement, specifically Amazon’s end of it.
This has led to some filing of paperwork in the courts by both TNT and the NBA. First, the NBA filed a motion to dismiss TNT’s lawsuit. Now, TNT has filed a motion of its own, as relayed by Mike McCann of Sportico.
“The 33-page memorandum was filed on Sept. 20 and aims to convince New York Judge Joel M. Cohen to deny the NBA’s motion to dismiss, which Sportico analyzed last month,” McCann wrote. “The case centers on the NBA’s determination that TBS failed to match Amazon’s offer to broadcast games from 2025-26 through 2035-36. The plaintiffs insist TBS had the right to match the Amazon offer, TBS matched the offer, and the NBA acted in bad faith to (allegedly) ‘circumvent TBS’s matching rights.'”
Round and round it goes, how it ends … well, most of us know. TNT seemingly doesn’t stand a chance at doing much more than tying up the court system.
Still, McCann reported this thing could end up going to trial.
“Should the case advance, court records indicate a trial is expected to be held sometime in April 2025,” McCann wrote. “As they litigate against the NBA in court, TBS and WBD (through TNT) will broadcast NBA games during the 2024-25 season.”
It’s hard to envision this case advancing, but just like things on an NBA court, you can’t really predict what may happen next here.
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