NBA’s telecast deal with Amazon has ‘several provisions’ Warner couldn’t match – WSJ

The NBA telecast rights deal with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) apparently includes several provisions that Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) couldn’t match, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

The WSJ report said among the provisions, there was one tied to Amazon’s (AMZN) carriage of NFL games. Warner-owned TBS, which runs the TNT channel, doesn’t carry NFL programming.

The deal ensured that NBA and NFL games get treated the same way, people familiar with the matter told WSJ, and is also stipulated that Amazon’s reach in U.S. streaming won’t fall below 80 million households.

The report said Amazon (AMZN) also pledged to provide three years worth of payments for NBA rights into an escrow account that the league can draw down automatically.

WBD provided a letter of credit, which the league deemed inferior, the people familiar with the situation told the Journal. A source told WSJ the NBA would only be able to draw down Warner’s funds if it missed a payment.

Warner (WBD) filed a lawsuit against the league last month for breach of contract and said it timely exercised matching rights on the terms and conditions as Amazon, but the NBA “deliberately refused to honor TBS’s rights.”

The NBA reached an 11-year, $76B-plus package deal with ESPN (DIS), NBC (CMCSA), and Amazon (AMZN), leaving out multi-decade partners TNT and TBS (WBD), and is set to go into effect after the 2024-2025 season.

NBC (CMCSA) also has the right to terminate its deal if any games are given to an additional broadcaster, people familiar with the matter told WSJ.