AEW Broadcast Partner Warner Bros. Discovery Makes Bid To Stay In Business With The NBA

AEW's broadcast partner, Warner Bros. Discovery, announced that it intends to match an offer to secure a new media rights deal with the NBA. 

TNT Sports, owned by WBD, has aired the basketball league for over four decades. But reports emerged earlier this month that the NBA was close to moving on with Amazon, NBC, and ESPN. As per the terms of their current deal, WBD retained the right to match what was on offer, and thus, announced on Monday that it would be doing so. "The New York Times" has reported that the offer WBD intends on matching is the one tabled by Amazon, an 11-year package valued at $1.8 billion per annum, although the NBA is still expected to want to proceed with the new deal. There is an expectation that the matter may have to be resolved legally as it appears to go against WBD's contractual right emphasized in the announcement made on the matter.

"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," TNT Sports' announcement read. "We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them. Our matching paperwork was submitted to the league today. We look forward to NBA executing our new contract." 

An NBA spokesperson reportedly told "The Athletic" that the league is currently reviewing the offer. Amazon has declined to comment.

As per the new agreement, NBC will reportedly stream regular season games exclusively via Peacock on Mondays, with NBC broadcasts on Tuesdays and Sundays, the latter package beginning after the NFL season. NBC is also said to have the All-Star game and select playoffs, including six conference finals, totaling around $2.5 billion per season for 11 years. 

ESPN is slated to retain the NBA Championship and conference finals over 11 seasons for around $2.6 billion per year. The three entities — ESPN, NBC, and either WBD or Amazon — will also reportedly pay $2.2 billion total for 11 years of WNBA coverage. The agreement with Amazon would see six conference finals airing on the Prime Video streaming platform, along with a full playoff slate including Play-In games and an additional regular season package including the NBA Cup and Thursday night basketball once Amazon has wrapped up its football commitments.

While there is a chance for a legal battle over the contractual rights, "The Athletic" said that Amazon's deal doesn't appear to match the existing arrangement, therefore leaving the possibility that TNT may not be able to deliver what was promised by its counterpart. The new contracts with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon reportedly do not include backend rights as seen with WBD, perhaps looking to circumvent this issue in 11 years should all go through as planned. The NBA was reportedly hoping to have the new deals announced before the Olympics starting this Friday, but it seems that timeline is now in flux until the issue is resolved with its existing partner.

This new crinkle in the NBA rights saga may cause a domino effect on WBD's negotiations with AEW as the wrestling promotion's broadcasting rights are also due to expire this year. It was reported that a new deal had been agreed in principle, albeit delayed while the NBA matter rolled on. "SEScoops" has reported that there was an emphasis on the "in principle" aspect of the agreement.

Part of the new deal will reportedly see AEW content migrate to the MAX streaming platform, including pay-per-views, and although numbers weren't specifically disclosed, the financial side of the agreement is said to be on the "middle to high side" of what the two parties were negotiating. WBD held exclusive re-negotiation rights with AEW, ahead of which the deal was said to be agreed, that expired on Sunday. 

It's unlikely, given the much-touted relationship between Tony Khan and his broadcast partner, that AEW will be entering negotiations with other parties in the meantime. However, that window being up leaves the option open while the matter with the NBA continues to unravel. The idea for quite some time has been that WBD potentially losing the NBA could drive its interest in getting a new deal with AEW locked in, and the broadcaster is also expected to make a play at the UFC media rights open for negotiation in January 2025. 

Nevertheless, recent collaborations between AEW and WBD-owned IPs, DC Comics and Adult Swim, indicate that the relationship remains productive even in the face of relative uncertainty. AEW currently airs "AEW Dynamite" on Wednesday nights on TBS, "AEW Rampage" on Friday nights, and "AEW Collision" airs on Saturday nights on TNT.