TNT's parent company alleges NBA used underhanded methods in $76 billion media rights battle with Amazon: Report

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), the parent company of TNT, has accused the NBA of including "poison pills" in its recent $76 billion media rights deal, making it difficult for other companies to compete. The NBA recently finalized an 11-year media rights deal with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon.

WBD, which runs TNT, a longtime NBA partner, earlier said that its $1.8 billion-per-year offer to match Amazon’s was rejected by the NBA. The league argued that WBD’s proposal failed to meet necessary conditions, leading WBD to allege unfair treatment.

In court filings, WBD claimed the NBA added deliberately burdensome clauses to Amazon's deal, making it nearly impossible for WBD to match.

“The NBA…incorrectly asserts that TBS failed to match certain terms of the Amazon Offer—terms the NBA included as poison pills to try to prevent TBS from matching,” WBD said (per Awful Announcing).

TBS, or Turner Broadcasting System, was the name under which Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) originally signed its NBA rights deal back in 2014.

“TBS had no obligation to match those terms (like escrow and credit rating requirements, liquidated damages, and cross-promotion)… But TBS matched them anyway, including on reasonable, commercially equivalent terms.”

One such "poison pill" was a requirement for cross-promotion with NFL games—something WBD cannot meet as it lacks NFL broadcasting rights.

Additionally, WBD pointed to an escrow clause demanding they provide $3.2 billion within five days of signing, despite only having about $2.98 billion in cash. WBD claimed that the escrow requirement was a “farce,” as the NBA had full discretion to waive it for Amazon.

WBD also raised concerns about a clause that would allow the NBA to terminate the contract if WBD’s credit rating dropped below a certain level, triggering a termination fee of up to $4.5 billion. WBD argued this posed a major risk due to its financial situation compared to Amazon's, further suggesting the NBA acted in bad faith.

Poison pills are typically a defense strategy used to deter takeovers by making them less appealing to potential buyers.

WBD’s lawyers claim NBA never wanted to allow it to match Amazon offer

WBD’s legal team has accused the NBA of never intending to allow it to fairly match Amazon's offer in their media rights negotiations.

“The NBA never intended to allow TBS to match the Amazon Offer," WBD's lawyers said (per Awful Announcing).

Even before the lawsuit, prominent TNT personalities had already expressed doubts, saying the NBA appeared set on favoring Amazon from the start.

TNT personality Charles Barkley said:

“Clearly the NBA has wanted to break up with us from the beginning. I’m not sure TNT ever had a chance.”

Losing the NBA broadcasting rights is a major setback for WBD, which owns TNT.

TNT has aired NBA games since 1988, and its renowned show "Inside the NBA," featuring Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson, now faces uncertainty as a result.