Topline
The NBA says it will end its 34-year partnership with TNT after next season, rejecting the cable network’s offer to match a bid from Amazon, a move that could shake up the sports world for the next decade and create serious challenges for TNT parent Warner Bros. Discovery—but TNT is pushing back and vowing “appropriate action.”
The NBA and TNT’s partnership dates back to the 1980s. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
Key Facts
The NBA inked three multibillion-dollar deals with Amazon, NBC and ESPN parent company Disney that will last through the 2035-36 season, a major shift from the league’s previous deals with just Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery—leading Warner to exercise its right to match Amazon’s offer.
The NBA said in a statement Warner Bros. Discovery’s “most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer,” which reportedly includes a $1.8 billion payment to the NBA each year for a series of streaming-only games.
TNT responded, saying it did match Amazon’s offer and did not believe the NBA could reject its bid because it has matching rights, accusing the league of grossly misinterpreting “our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond.”
NBC is expected to pay $2.5 billion per year under the agreement, according to The Hollywood Reporter, while Disney is expected to fork over about $2.6 billion per year, Variety reported—adding up to $76 billion from all three deals over 11 years.
Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.
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Big Number
$1.2 billion. That is how much Warner Bros. pays each year for TNT’s NBA broadcast rights.
What To Watch For
Under the new deals, Amazon will get distribution rights for 66 regular season games including one game on Black Friday and all six of the NBA’s Play-In Tournament games. NBC will get the lion’s share of rights for regular-season games, with the ability to broadcast 100 per season and receive the rights to the NBA All-Star game and its accompanying contests and challenges. Disney, which owns ESPN and ABC, will distribute 80 games per season as ABC will remain the home of the NBA Finals. All three companies will be able to distribute a select number of playoff games specified in the NBA’s announcement.
Key Background
TNT’s agreement with the NBA is set to end after the league’s next season, concluding what will be a 35-year partnership. TNT’s chances of reaching a new deal were put in jeopardy by an increase in cord-cutting and the rise of streaming services, which have managed to secure increasingly more broadcast agreements in recent years. Prime Video, Disney’s ESPN+ and Netflix have already secured rights to distribute some select NFL games, while Apple managed to close a 10-year, $2.5 billion agreement with Major League Soccer in 2022, giving it exclusive broadcast rights. But the loss of the NBA could prove challenging for Warner Bros. Discovery, which may have a harder time negotiating fees with cable companies to carry networks like TNT—still a key driver of revenue—if the NBA is no longer on its networks.
Surprising Fact
The end of the partnership follows criticism from former NBA player and “Inside The NBA” commentator Charles Barkley, who ripped network executives for not locking down a new contract with the league and later announced he will retire in 2025, saying he is “going nowhere other than TNT” during an “Inside The NBA” segment.
Further Reading
NBA Secures $76 Billion TV Deal With NBC And Amazon—But TNT Could Still Match, Report Says (Forbes)
Will TNT’s ‘Inside The NBA’ Disappear? Here’s What We Know—As Charles Barkley Calls Execs ‘Clowns.’ (Forbes)
