The NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery have reached an agreement that ends WBD’s lawsuit against the league and extends their longstanding media partnership for an additional 11 years, though without any rights to live games on TNT in the U.S.
The new NBA deal with WBD’s TNT Sports does include several components that will promote league content and “accelerate the global growth and reach” of TNT Sports and its Bleacher Report and House of Highlights brands, WBD said.
Those features include expanded digital access to NBA highlights, a full package of live game rights in international territories and an enhanced NBA Digital partnership between the league and TNT Sports. WBD will also continue to operate the league’s NBA TV U.S. cable channel.
A separate agreement announced at the same time will see TNT Sports continue to produce its popular “Inside the NBA” studio show for air on ESPN and ABC, starting in 2025.
“Together these agreements ensure fans will continue to enjoy TNT’s Inside the NBA and create tremendous value for our entire portfolio as we accelerate the growth of TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and our global sports business,” said David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said. “We are pleased to partner with the NBA and Disney/ESPN, and to have solidified long-term rights and revenue for WBD.
Earlier this year, WBD lost out in the bidding for a new round of rights to NBA games that begins in 2025 and had sued the league, citing its right of first refusal on a new TV deal. WBD management was widely criticized for its handing of the negotiations for the NBA rights, which TNT Sports (the former Turner Sports) had held since 1984.
During that time, TNT Sports received more than 190 Sports Emmy Award nominations and 45 awards for its NBA coverage. TNT Sports and the NBA have jointly managed NBA Digital, the league’s collection of media assets, since 2009.
The new deal provides TNT Sports and its portfolio of brands with a global license to create, produce and distribute new and existing NBA content across its platforms. The agreement includes expanded global content and highlight rights for TNT Sports, Bleacher Report and House of Highlights, with the ability to produce and distribute NBA content across the WBD portfolio, along with meaningful promotion, sales and creative commitments across both NBA and WBD platforms.
The separate arrangement with ESPN calls for TNT Sports to produce the iconic studio show “Inside the NBA,” a 21-time Emmy winner featuring host Ernie Johnson Jr. and panelists Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, for distribution on ESPN and ABC starting in 2025-26 throughout the regular season and NBA playoffs. TNT Sports will also continue to develop new content for air on its WBD platforms featuring “Inside the NBA” studio talent, including an “Inside Sports” show currently in development for next season.
Associated with the agreement between WBD and ESPN, TNT Sports will now sublicense a package of Big 12 Conference college football games (13 each season) and men’s college basketball games (15 each season) starting in 2025. This builds on TNT Sports’ agreement to sublicense a pair of first-round College Football Playoff games from ESPN, starting this December.
Additionally, WBD has been granted live NBA game telecast rights in the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden), along with Poland and Latin America (excluding Brazil and Mexico) for the next 11 years.
In connection with this package, WBD will provide broad reach, local-language commentary and promotional opportunities for the NBA’s marketing partners.
“The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning Inside the NBA is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. “We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms.”
WBD also reported that its agreement with the NBA includes a new global license for digital platforms Bleacher Report and House of Highlights that includes expansive rights to content and highlights, as well as game access to produce NBA-related content. Bleacher Report and House of Highlights will receive widespread promotion across NBA assets, and the NBA will create a section of its digital products (e.g. the NBA App and NBA.com) that will feature basketball-related content produced by B/R, HoH and TNT Sports.
The NBA and WBD also said that the agreement also reimagines and continues the NBA Digital partnership between the NBA and TNT Sports for five seasons, under which the NBA can engage WBD to provide promotion and a variety of services, including production, content development and sales operations services. WBD will also be a strategic promotional partner for NBA League Pass and, through promotion on B/R, HoH and other WBD digital platforms, help accelerate League Pass subscriber acquisition. In addition, advertising for NBA properties and initiatives will run on WBD linear channels and digital platforms.
