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.

Comcast’s NBCUniversal is closing in on securing the third NBA package and likely unveil a “Basketball Night in America" telecast with its annual bid of $2.5 billion per year, sources tell Sports Business Journal.

Sources say Warner Bros. Discovery, parent company of TNT, would have to increase its bid to as much as $2.8 billion per season to retain rights unless they attempt to settle the matter with litigation.

WBD exited its exclusive negotiating window with the NBA with the expectation they could match any bid from a rival company on a dollar-for-dollar basis. 

Sources reiterated Wednesday that the NBA believes a dollar-for-dollar match is not enough because NBC is an over-the-air network with multiple broadcast windows and an RSN infrastructure that WBD cannot replicate.

“NBC has made their bid, and they're not budging,’’ a media industry source said. “So it's over, right? And Warner Bros. is saying, ‘We'll match it,’ and (Commissioner Adam Silver) is probably saying: ‘It's not matched.’ ’’

Sources say Adam Silver is trying to figure out a way to sever the relationship with TNT in a "gentle way."

“There's no mystery to this," the source said. “It's pretty blatant what's happening. David Zaslav realizes he has to have this and doesn't want to pay more than $2.5B. And Adam's saying, honestly, it's not matched at $2.5. And [Zaslav] goes, ‘Yes, it is,’ and they're going back and forth.’ And so that's where we are. How do you let [WBD] down? Is there a way? Or does Zaslav come up with more money? Because then it doesn't have to be matching because David's paid more.

“And that's where we are. Adam's trying to be nice to David right now until David backs off his dogs. He’s trying to help David save face.’’

NBC’s package is expected to include Sunday Night games following the NFL season, while perhaps taking over ESPN’s Friday night slate and TNT’s second-round playoff and conference final package. Amazon would likely have one weekday night (Tuesday or Thursday) and Saturday nights, as well as the Play-in tournament, the In-Season Tournament, first-round playoff games and likely some international rights. 

ESPN will continue to be the exclusive home of The Finals.

“ESPN did not want to alternate the finals, which I think Adam wanted to do,’’ a source said. “Adam wanted to make a package for NBC and alternate the finals with ESPN. ESPN fought it, fought, fought it, and finally said fine, ‘We'll pay the $2.6B, but no alternating the finals.’ And WB thought the league would never get that [$2.5] price from NBC. They said, ‘Sure, go shopping.’ They shopped it, they got the price. And now David Zaslav goes, ‘We’re screwed.’’’

The NBA is nearing agreement with ESPN and Amazon on media rights deals for the WNBA.

The league has reportedly prioritized including the WNBA media rights as part of its next NBA deals. The NBA is also potentially maximizing the timing for the value of the WNBA as Caitlin Clark enters the league.

Details on the number of games in the regular season and playoffs that will be broadcast by both companies are still being determined. 

The NBA's new media rights deals could surpass $7 billion per season, which would represent an increase of nearly 170 percent from its current $2.6 billion per deals with ESPN and TNT. According to reported figures, the combined rights fees from ESPN, Amazon and NBC (or TNT) are at $6.9 billion per season.

Amazon will pay approximately $1.8 billion per season, according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. The deal will include the Conference Finals every other year as they will alternate with whoever wins the third rights between NBC and TNT. It also will include the NBA Cup and In-Season Tournament. 

TNT can match NBC's offer of $2.5 billion per season and talks are ongoing.

ESPN's deal with the NBA, which includes the Finals and Conference Finals on an annual basis, will cost $2.6 billion per year.

A report in 2021 indicated that the NBA was seeking anywhere between $7 billion and $8 billion per year on its next deal. After a 2023 report cooled those expectations with a doubling of the current deal a more probable target, the NBA appears to be close to reaching its goal.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav confirmed that talks with the NBA to keep games on TNT are ongoing. NBC has offered the NBA $2.5 billion per season to essentially replace TNT as the league's other primary partner alongside ESPN. Amazon will likely enter as a partner for the NBA and broadcast both the NBA Cup and Play-In Tournament.

“We continue to be in constructive negotiations with the NBA,” Zaslav said Monday at the Milken Institute Global Conference in California. “It’s a great league. The TNT team does a terrific job. And we love the NBA.”

WBD maintains matching rights with the NBA as one of their existing partners.

WBD’s stock has lost nearly one-third of its value so far this year, with a drop of nearly 10 percent last week driven in part by reports the network could lose the NBA rights. 

During an interview in November 2022, Zaslav said “We don’t have to have the NBA.”

Comcast’s NBCUniversal is prepared to pay an average of about $2.5 billion per season to air a package of NBA games.

Warner Bros. Discovery, parent company of TNT, has paid an average fee of $1.2 billion per season under its current deal. WBD has the right to match any third-party offer.

NBC's package would include two regular season nights per week and playoff games. NBC could also air games on its Peacock streaming platform.

ESPN is expected to pay an average of $2.6 billion, which is up from $1.5 billion from its current deal.

Amazon is also expected to partner with the NBA for media rights.

The NBA and ESPN have agreed on the framework on a new broadcast deal that will allow the network to retain The Finals.

ESPN and TNT had exclusive negotiating rights with the NBA until this week.

ESPN became home of the NBA Finals in 2002 after they replaced NBC.

The NBA and Amazon Prime Video have the framework of a deal to make the streaming service one of the primary broadcast partners for the league over the next decade.

Prime Video will at least join ESPN as an NBA broadcast partner, as Disney also has a framework of a deal in place with the league. ESPN/ABC are expected to retain the Finals as part of its new deal. In one arrangement, ESPN will cut down from around 100 games to around 80, according to executives briefed on the talks.

Prime Video’s package will include significant regular season and postseason games, perhaps even some conference finals. Prime could broadcast Thursday night games beginning in January as a continuation of its sports programming schedule coming out of the NFL season.

The deal will begin in 25-26 and last for at least a decade.

The NBA is finishing up nine-year deals that pay it $2.6 billion on average from ESPN and TNT. In 2007, the NBA extended with ESPN and TNT on a deal worth $930 million per year through 15-16. The deal beginning in 2002 was worth $766 million per year.

The NBA would like to have at least three companies involved in its new deals, which will leave TNT to likely face off with NBC for the final package. Warner Bros. Discovery, parent company of TNT, has the right to match deals.

While ESPN and TNT didn't extend their media rights deals with the NBA before their exclusive negotiating window closed, sources tell Front Office Sports that both networks have matching provisions that allow each an opportunity to respond to outside bids before contracts are finalized. The provision applies to both streaming and linear rights packages.

The NBA currently gets nearly $2.7 billion annually from its nine-year $24 billion deals with ESPN and TNT expiring at the end of next season and a doubling of that annual average is possible. 

The NBA has been tied to WBD in various ways since 1984, while ESPN has been a partner for more than 20 years. ESPN also provides significant programming beyond live sports that help promote the league.

The Minnesota Timberwolves' ongoing ownership dispute will have an initial mediation session on May 1st. 

Glen Taylor voided a deal to sell a majority stake in the Wolves to a group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez after he asserted they failed to meet contractual deadlines.

Lore and Rodriguez are disputing Taylor's position as they attempt to finalize their purchase of the Wolves. 

Lore and Rodriguez agreed to purchase the Wolves in 2021 at a valuation of $1.5 billion. The deal allowed them to purchase 20 percent of the team in July 2021, 20 percent more in 2022 and 40 percent more in 2023.