The NBA has filed a motion to dismiss Warner Bros. Discovery’s lawsuit seeking to block its deal with Amazon. Plus: Diamond reaches agreements with NBA and NHL for upcoming seasons; distributors look to secure access to “skinny bundles” amid Fubo ruling.
NBA files motion to dismiss WBD lawsuit
The NBA filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Warner Bros. Discovery over its exercise of matching rights for Amazon’s upcoming NBA package, legal analyst Daniel Wallach first reported on Friday. The league argues that WBD cannot match Amazon’s bid on the basis that WBD would like to distribute its games via a linear cable network rather than exclusively on a streaming service. The league argues in its filing that “[e]ven if TBS did have the right to match Amazon’s offer, it certainly did not have the right to fundamentally change the method of distribution required by Amazon’s offer…”
The NBA continued its argument stating that WBD could have chosen to match NBC’s offer, given the linear method of distribution, but opted to match the Amazon offer in an attempt to “save billions by combining Amazon’s lower price with the linear television rights granted to NBC.”
In addition to the method of distribution, it was widely reported that Amazon included “poison pills” in its contract in an attempt to make a match from WBD difficult. One such provision in the Amazon deal has the company paying three years of media rights fees to the league up front by placing the funds in escrow. In response, WBD secured a line of credit in an attempt to match, though that would likely not be seen as equivalent in a matching scenario. (Wallach, 8.23)
Diamond reaches deals with NBA, NHL
Diamond Sports Group took another step towards emerging from bankruptcy today as the RSN operator came to terms with 22 franchises across the NBA and NHL, per a series of court filings Friday. The agreements will see 13 NBA and 9 NHL franchises air on Bally Sports RSNs for the 2024-25 season. Should Diamond fail to emerge from bankruptcy after the end of the season, the deals would be terminated.
As part of the new agreements, NBA franchises will reportedly take a 30-40% reduction of their current media rights agreements. NHL franchises will take a haircut of about 20%.
The deals come about a month after Diamond reached a critical carriage agreement with Comcast, its third largest distributor, after months at an impasse. Some franchises, most recently the New Orleans Pelicans, already opted to forego potential deals with Diamond earlier this summer in favor of selling rights to local over-the-air affiliates.
Crucially, Diamond has still yet to reach a deal with MLB, who has shown little appetite to work with the company through bankruptcy. Nevertheless, deals with the NBA and NHL bring Diamond one step closer to solidifying its future.
Distributors seek access to “skinny bundle” amid Fubo ruling
Amid the fallout from Fubo’s win in court against Venu Sports, other distributors are looking to capitalize on the ruling in an effort to create “skinny bundles” of their own, per John Ourand in Puck on Thursday. Specifically, DirecTV’s chief content officer Rob Thun was quoted as calling such an option “the highest priority for us” and “existential.”
Last week, Judge Margaret Garnett issued a preliminary injunction against Venu weeks before the streaming service was set to launch. Monday, the companies involved in Venu Sports appealed the judge’s injunction. However, with the joint venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery stalled, whether the service will even launch at all becomes a serious question. (Puck, 8.22)
More: UConn, Sterling, Amin
— UConn and the Big 12 are reportedly in serious negotiations that could see the university join the conference in non-football sports by 2026 at the latest, per a Yahoo Sports report Friday. The two parties met in Dallas last week to discuss potential terms, though nothing is imminent. UConn football would join the conference in 2031 at the earliest, when new television contracts kick in. (Yahoo, 8.23)
— Former Yankees broadcaster John Sterling may come out of retirement this season to call Yankees postseason games, per The Athletic on Thursday. Earlier this week, Sterling made a cameo appearance in the booth to call a few innings with Suzyn Waldman. (The Athletic, 8.22)
— Play-by-play broadcaster Adam Amin has signed a multi-year contract extension with Fox, per the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday. He has also reached a new deal to remain the TV voice of the Chicago Bulls when they move to their new RSN, Chicago Sports Network, this fall. (Chicago Sun-Times, 8.22)
