Warner Bros Discovery and their sports division, Turner Broadcasting System, have filed a lawsuit against the National Basketball Association in New York over the league’s rejection of their matching bid for media rights.
The media company accused the NBA of breaching their agreement in refusing to honour their right to match offers from a third party.
“We strongly believe this is not just our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to keep watching our industry-leading NBA content,” Warner Bros Discovery sports arm TNT Sports said in a statement.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass said Warner Bros Discovery’s claims are “without merit”.
The NBA announced on Wednesday that they had awarded Walt Disney’s ESPN, Comcast-owned NBCUniversal and Amazon.com rights to carry National Basketball Association games in an 11-year deal valued at $A117 billion.
The NBA rejected a last-minute offer from TNT Sports, which they said fell short of Amazon’s proposal, ending a four-decade relationship with the media company after next season.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/basketball/warner-bros-discovery-sue-nba-over-broadcast-rights-bid-c-15492661