The National Basketball Association and Warner Bros. Discovery are taking their court battle over B-ball TV rights out of the courts.
While nothing has been filed yet in New York State court system, Adam Silver-led NBA and the David Zaslav-run WBD have reached a deal to end their months-long legal dispute, sources close to events confirm.
Under the new pact, WBD’s TNT and TBS won’t have the right to NBA games come the 2025-2026 season. But, as Disney’s ESPN, NBCUniversal and Amazon’s $77 billion agreement over 11 years comes off the bench next year, WBD have scored their own 11-year rights to feature “NBA highlights & extended content,” according to individual with knowledge of the new deal.
That content could find a home on new TBS and TNT shows, as well as the WBD-owned House of Highlights and Bleacher Report online. Additionally, WBD will have the ability to NBA rights in Latin America, with the exceptions of Brazil and Mexico, and parts of Europe.
Neither the NBA nor WBD responded to request for comment from Deadline on the settlement. If they do, this post will be updated.
Fumbling the re-upping of their long held contracts with the league, and seeing NBCU snagging some of the NBA gold back in July, WBD sued Silver and crew days later to see if they could grab some of the games awarded to Amazon. Elbows got sharp pretty fast with the NBA asserting in a response filing in late August that debt-ridden and stock low WBD lacked not only the cash to be a serious contender, but also the scope.
No, said WBD
“We maintain our position that the NBA’s actions are unjustified, and we strongly believe we have fulfilled our contractual right to match the third-party offer,” the company said in a quickly released statement on August 24. “Not only is it our contractual right, but it is in the best interest of the fans who want to continue to enjoy our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed platforms including TNT and Max.”
News of the NBA and WBD settlement and the new understanding was first reported by the Wall Street Journal
