WBD reportedly matches Amazon’s $1.8 per year offer for NBA games

Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to match Amazon’s $1.8 billion annual offer for a chunk of NBA broadcast rights.

TNT Sports confirmed it matched “one” of the offers and submitted the appropriate paperwork to the NBA midday July 22, 2024. 

Earlier July 22, it was reported that the day was the deadline for TNT Sports to decide whether it would match the NBA TV rights deals offered by NBCUniversal and Amazon.

At stakes were TNT Sports‘ rights to NBA games broadcasts, which have been airing across TNT, TBS and truTV as well as Disney’s ABC and ESPN since 2002. 

NBCU has reportedly offered $2.5 billion per season for a big piece of the rights, though WBD reportedly did not match that offer. Instead, TNT Sports reportedly opted to match the price Amazon would pay for a smaller portion of the games.

The NBA had previously approved the NBCU, Disney and Amazon deals, which are set to start with 2025-2026 season. 

It appears, however, that Amazon will now be sidelined from NBA rights, with WBD’s TNT Sports taking over those games.

Legal wrangling about WBD’s right to match competitive offers had reportedly stalled the final signing of the deals. 

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Interest in live sports rights have spiked as legacy broadcasters and streamers alike start seeing their value in being able to attract live viewers and advertising dollars. 

This story has been updated with news that WBD matched Amazon’s offer.