Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav projected a measured optimism Thursday that the company could still retain a portion of the NBA’s media rights as it continues to negotiate with the league. Zaslav said WBD, which owns TNT Sports, continues to talk to the NBA about a deal and he remains “hopeful” that they could “reach an agreement that makes sense for both sides.”
Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery are trying to keep a piece of the NBA rights as part of a fierce bidding war with NBCUniversal. While WBD is the incumbent — TNT has had a four decades long relationship with the NBA, as both sides like to trumpet — NBCUniversal has reportedly offered the league $2.5 billion a year to take over a portion of its rights. The NBA is nearing agreements with Disney (which owns ESPN) and Amazon as its two other partners, The Athletic reported last month. The NBA had an exclusive 45-day negotiating window with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery this spring but only Disney exited with the terms of a new deal in place.
“We’ve had a lot of time to prepare for this negotiation, and we have strategies in place for the various potential outcomes,” Zaslav said on a Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call. “However, now is not the time to discuss any of this since we are in active negotiations with the league. And under our current deal with the NBA, we have matching rights that allow us to match third-party offers before the NBA enters into an agreement with them.”
Zaslav, however, brought up the company’s matching rights unprompted Thursday, though exactly how that might actually work would depend on the specifics of the current rights agreement between the league and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Zaslav had taken an ambivalent approach toward the NBA publicly over the last few years. In 2022, he said the company did not need the NBA’s rights as he led the company through a time of austerity and cost-cutting, and reiterated that point again later on.
But he has taken a different tack recently, as negotiations have ramped up and Warner Bros. Discovery’s future with the league grew uncertain. He was spotted sitting courtside at Madison Square Garden for an NBA playoff game this spring.
“We continue to be in constructive negotiations with the NBA,” Zaslav said Monday at the Milken Institute Global Conference. “It’s a great league. The TNT team does a terrific job. And we love the NBA.”
The NBA’s next media rights is already set to disrupt how fans have watched national broadcasts over the last few decades. The league has shown a greater interest in over-the-air broadcast and will include a significant streaming component.
If Warner Bros. Discovery loses NBA rights, it could also displace “Inside The NBA,” the beloved TNT studio show.
(Photo: Ron Chenoy / USA TODAY Sports)