June 12, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; NBA TV analyst Charles Barkley speaks on set before Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center . Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports TNT Sports may not have quit broadcasting NBA games just yet.
TNT parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced Monday that it has matched an offer in the latest round of NBA television rights negotiations.
Several reports suggest TNT matched newcomer Amazon's bid, which was expected to be $1.8 billion per year over an 11-year period.
The NBA received proposals from NBC and Amazon earlier this month. Disney-owned ABC/ESPN will retain the “A Package,” which includes the NBA Finals. “Package B” will be transferred to NBC, and Amazon plans to broadcast “Package C” on Prime Video. The NBA's Board of Governors approved deals worth a total of $76 billion last week.
Turner, a longtime NBA associate best known for the studio show “Inside the NBA,” is trying to get back in the action.
“In order to continue our long-term partnership, during both exclusive and non-exclusive negotiations, we made a strong offer in good faith that was fair to both parties,” TNT Sports said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the league has Notify us that it intends to accept offers for other matches within our current rights package to enable us to proceed under the matching rights terms which are an integral part of our current agreement and the rights we have paid for under the agreement.
“We have reviewed these offers and matched one of them. This will allow fans to continue to enjoy our unrivaled coverage of the best live game production in the industry as well as our signature studio shows and talent, while building on We have many more years to build on our proven 40-year commitment.
The NBA has not yet commented on the statement, which ultimately left the ball in the league's court.
“Our pairing documents were submitted to the league today. We look forward to the NBA enforcing our new contract.”
WBD is currently paying $1.4 billion per season on a nine-year contract that expires after the 2024-25 season.
–Scene-level media