While NBC is reportedly close to moving forward with the NBA on a $2.5 billion per season media rights deal, TNT continues to be in talks with the league.
“We’ve enjoyed a strong partnership with the NBA for almost four decades. We’re in continuing conversations with them now, and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to reach an agreement that makes sense for both sides,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Zaslav said on Thursday's earnings call.
“We’ve had a lot of time to prepare for this negotiation, and we have strategies in place for the various potential outcomes. 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.”
The NBA also has a deal on the table with Amazon worth $1.8 billion per season, which TNT could also potentially match.
ESPN and the NBA have agreed to a $2.6 billion per season deal.
