In a recent development, the NBA has submitted a motion to the New York Supreme Court seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). The lawsuit alleged that the NBA breached its contract by rejecting WBD's matching offer for a new media rights deal and instead signed with Amazon.

The NBA's motion, filed on Friday, contained a detailed response to WBD's lawsuit, which was filed on July 26, just two days after the NBA finalized an 11-year media rights deal worth almost $76 billion with Disney (parent company of ESPN), NBC, and Amazon Prime Video. This new deal effectively marks the end of a long-standing business relationship between the league and Turner, which began broadcasting NBA games back in the 1984-85 season.

In its 28-page filing, accompanied by supporting documents, the NBA urged the court to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, preventing it from being refiled in the future. The league specifically argued that WBD, as the parent company of Turner, attempted to improperly revise the terms of Amazon's offer and subsequently accept those altered terms.

While Amazon's offer amounted to approximately $1.8 billion per year, NBC's offer stood at around $2.45 billion per year. The NBA highlighted that WBD made significant revisions to eight sections and 22 subsections of the Amazon offer, with numerous changes to defined terms, ultimately altering the rights and obligations of the parties involved.

The league's lawyers asserted that rather than accepting each term of Amazon's offer, WBD's revisions constituted a counteroffer, which the NBA was within its rights to reject. Additionally, the NBA argued that the matching rights WBD referred to from their 2014 media rights agreement with TBS were limited to distributing games solely through the linear cable television network, not on a standalone streaming service like Amazon Prime Video.

The NBA further contended that WBD failed to match Amazon's commitment to pay roughly three years' worth of rights fees upfront, amounting to approximately $5.4 billion, by providing an escrow account. According to the NBA, WBD's alternative offer to provide syndicated letters of credit did not provide the same level of protection.

The timeline provided by the NBA showed that on July 17, the league presented WBD with Amazon's offer. On July 22, WBD responded by claiming to match the terms of the offer, which the NBA ultimately declined. Two days later, on July 24, the NBA responded to WBD, citing several reasons to support its stance that the response did not qualify as a match. These reasons included minimum reach commitments, marketing and promotional commitments, and the formula to measure the reach commitment provided by Amazon.

As part of the newly signed media rights deal, Amazon Prime Video will broadcast NBA games on select days, including Friday nights, certain Saturday afternoons, and Thursday night doubleheaders starting from the 2025-26 season until the 2035-36 season. The package also includes games on Black Friday, as well as the NBA Cup's quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship game. Furthermore, Prime Video will take over the NBA League Pass package from Warner Bros. Discovery.

Citing New York law, the NBA argued that all of WBD's claims should be dismissed because Warner Bros. Discovery was not a party in the 2014 agreement between the NBA and TBS. TNT Sports, a division of Warner Bros. Discovery, responded with a statement maintaining its position and arguing that it fulfilled its contractual right to match a third-party offer. TNT Sports plans to file its opposition to the motion in the coming weeks.

Warner Bros. Discovery has until September 20 to respond to the NBA's motion. The outcome of this legal dispute will have a significant impact on the future distribution of NBA games, as well as the landscape of media rights deals in the sports industry.