Warner Bros. Discovery has until Monday to offer up a match on any part of the NBA’s new media-rights agreement (likely Amazon’s “C” package of streaming rights).
Here were some of the developments on the deal over the weekend headed into Monday's deadline.
- The Ringer’s Bill Simmons reported that Amazon “guaranteed” three years of its rights payment upfront in its offer to the NBA that it put into escrow, knowing that WBD is “cash poor” and would have a hard time matching that element of the deal. Puck’s Matthew Belloni noted that depending on the stock price, that amount (a three-year lump sum) would be around “half” of WBD’s value. Simmons: “Warner [Bros. Discovery] would have to take on way more debt and basically risk the future of the company” (“The Town,” 7/20).
- Sources also said the NBA deal will “not contain matching rights for Disney, NBC and Amazon” (THE ATHLETIC, 7/19).
