Iconic Warner Bros is broke? Here's what NBA has claimed

The heavily redacted lawsuit filed on July 26 by WBD regarding the rights Amazon was granted earlier this year in a multi-outlet $77 billion deal for the 2025–26 season and beyond has been met with force by the Adam Silver-led league, as promised.

The legal battle between the NBA and Warner Bros Discovery over small-screen basketball rights, which the still-run media company turned over to David Zaslav, appears to be headed for a serious 2-for-1 outcome. The stock-cratering WBD and its subsidiary Turner Broadcasting System are requesting a court order to put the Jeff Bezos-owned streamer on hold so that this issue can be resolved before continuing.

The league and the WNBA have agreements with ABC, NBC, and Amazon for the next 11 years. The NBA wants to close the doors on this entire venture with its soon-to-be ex-partner of almost thirty years.


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The NBA made it clear that it will not be playing games in a late-night move for dismissal that will be heard in person on October 4 in New York state court, less than three weeks before the 79th NBA regular season tips off. The NBA is arguing that WBD is not big enough for the league and lacks the necessary cash. Amazon agreed to maintain an escrow account for rights fee payments, but TBS eliminated this protection by providing syndicated letters of credit, which the NBA can only access if late payments occur. The NBA also claims that, in contrast to Amazon, which will use their highly-watched NFL Thursday Night Football property, WBD lacks the clout to effectively promote league games on either ESPN or streamer Max.

After plunging to multiple all-time lows in previous months, WBD's stock experienced a slight increase at closing on Friday. For investors like John Malone, though, that must be little consolation. Since Warner Bros. and Discovery, which were previously owned by AT&T, combined in April 2022 under Zaslav's direction, the company's stock has dropped by roughly 70%.

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FAQs

Why is the NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery involved in a legal dispute?
The NBA and Warner Bros Discovery are engaged in a legal battle over TV rights to telecast games. The business contends that it should keep the rights because it has complied with its contractual obligations and is contesting the NBA's decision to grant Amazon the rights.

If Warner Bros Discovery loses this case, what might happen?
If Warner Bros Discovery loses the lawsuit, it may forfeit its NBA broadcasting rights indefinitely, which would limit its capacity to air NBA games on networks like TNT and Max.