WBD Moves to Match for NBA

[PGage]

Reports are Zaz has claimed his right to match the Amazon offer for one of the NBA Rights packages (1 night would be on Max apparently).

The AP story does not dig into what I understand to be significant challenges for WBD to legally satisfy its matching requirements, and Bill Simmons is predicting they won’t be able to do it.

Maybe Zaz now admits he was wrong and he does need the NBA, at any price. Or maybe this is an attempt to cover his very bare ass, by pretending to Match, then wrangling in court long enough that folks get distracted by other things and forget what he lost.

https://apnews.com/article/da054dbb0e901b8d9339eab63387b101

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[M-D November]

I've been seeing reporting that the NBA will likely deny WBD's match, although it's unclear as to why they'd be able to (possibly because Amazon's package is streaming-only, where WBD's would air on TNT & Max?). Either way, I'm also seeing that the NBA has eliminated the right to match in future renegotiations.

[PGage]

Apparently Amazon and the NBA think WBD’s offer does not qualify as a match, WBD thinks it does. I had speculated Zaz wanted to go to court so he could blame the NBA (rather than himself). Puck News makes the more likely suggestion he is looking for a payoff so he can claim he came out ahead. I will add that to my previous prediction that WBD eventually licenses its pre game show to Amazon, which would get them even more cash, and Zaz could claim he is a genius for getting paid not to air NBA games instead of overpaying to air them.

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[PGage]

For the record…

The NBA has rejected WBD’s offer for the Amazon package. Here is the AP story:

https://apnews.com/article/855da6a644947d74ad3330c0470a7c94

Puck News’ John Ourand, in a nice story on the whole saga appropriately titled “How Zaz Lost the NBA”, summarized recent developments, snipet pasted below.

Ourand’s take on the whole saga is that Zaz badly misunderstood the Rights market for the NBA, and the NBA’s desire to move hard into streaming. Although the end game involves WBD pathetically trying to match Amazon, the real package WBD had a chance to match was Comcast/NBC, but Comcast made a much bigger offer than WBD anticipated, partly to weaken Turners position in bargaining for cable carriage.

===============

“On Monday, WBD announced its intention to use its matching rights on Amazon’s package. Two days later, Koenig sent Silberwasser the email saying that WBD’s matching rights weren’t applicable. Koenig told Silberwasser that the package was streaming-only, not the streaming-and-cable package that WBD was counter-proposing. Koenig also outlined that Amazon put its first three years of rights fees in escrow, meaning that payments would be made automatically. WBD offered a letter of credit, which the NBA did not view as equal. Koenig also referenced Prime’s enormous reach vis-à-vis Max—a dig, to be sure.

WBD responded to Koenig’s email with a statement that both encapsulated the months of testy dealmaking and foreshadowed an even more litigious future. “We think they have grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond, and we will take appropriate action.” 

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[Tom Wolper]

WBD is playing their part in the drama and they have filed suit.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40647935/warner-bros-discovery-sues-nba-losing-rights-amazon

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