The NBA Wednesday quickly rejected Warner Bros. Discovery’s efforts to keep airing NBA games on TNT starting in 2026.
WBD, which airs NBA games on TNT, offered on Monday what it considered a matching bid for a suite of games given to Amazon that was worth an estimated $1.9 billion over 11 years. But the NBA begged to differ.
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon,” the NBA said in a statement.
The NBA now has three partners covering broadcast rights from 2026 through 2036: Amazon, Disney’s ESPN/ABC and NBCUniversal. Combined, the NBA will receive an estimated $7 billion a year under the new deals, a significant hike from its current contracts with Disney and WBD.
“Throughout these negotiations, our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans,” the NBA said. “Our new arrangement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements. All three partners have also committed substantial resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience.”
In response, TNT said, “we have matched the Amazon offer, as we have a contractual right to do, and do not believe the NBA can reject it... We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and will take appropriate action.”
TNT, which has aired NBA games going back to 1989, now has just one more season with the league. Its signature sports talk program “Inside the NBA” — featuring Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley and shot in Atlanta — will end in 2025.
WBD could potentially sue, arguing that the NBA breached its contract by rejecting its matching offer. The NBA would likely counter that the offer was not an apples-to-apples match to what Amazon could offer. Although WBD can air games on its cable network TNT as well as its streaming service Max, Amazon’s streaming service has twice as many subscribers as Max. And cable TV has seen a rapid decline in viewership in recent years as more people move to streaming services.
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