NBA and WBD Agree to 11-Year Partnership that will Promote NBA Content & Accelerate Global Growth of TNT Sports and its Leading Digital Brands Bleacher Report & House of Highlights
TNT Sports Continues to Produce Emmy Award-Winning Inside the NBA, Airing on ESPN/ABC Through Innovative Partnership with ESPN
Reimagined & Enhanced NBA Digital Partnership to Include Significant Advertising and Promotional Commitments Across NBA and WBD Platforms
WBD Bolsters Global Sports Portfolio with Full Live NBA Game Package Including the Regular Season and Playoffs in Several Markets Outside the U.S.
The National Basketball Association and Warner Bros. Discovery have reached an agreement that will extend their long-standing media partnership an additional 11 years. Per the terms of the agreement, the NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery will expand their business partnership including several components that will promote NBA content and accelerate the global growth and reach of TNT Sports and its leading sports digital brands Bleacher Report and House of Highlights. The deal also includes a reimagined and enhanced NBA Digital partnership between the NBA and TNT Sports and a full package of live game rights in a number of territories outside the U.S., strengthening WBD’s global portfolio.
In addition, WBD and the NBA have resolved all disputes relating to the NBA’s recent media agreements.
TNT Sports and its portfolio of brands will receive a global license to create, produce and distribute new and existing NBA content across its platforms. The agreement includes expanded global content and highlight rights for TNT Sports, Bleacher Report and House of Highlights, with the ability to produce and distribute NBA content across the WBD portfolio, along with meaningful promotion, sales and creative commitments across both NBA and WBD platforms.
Concurrent with this agreement, WBD and ESPN have agreed to enter an innovative partnership. TNT Sports will continue to fully create and produce Inside the NBA, with its iconic studio show being distributed on ESPN and ABC. Beginning with the 2025-26 season, Inside the NBA, the recipient of 21 Emmy Awards, will air on ESPN and ABC throughout the regular season and NBA Playoffs. TNT Sports will also continue to develop new content for air on its WBD platforms featuring TNT’s Inside the NBA studio talent including innovative programs such as an “Inside Sports” show currently in development for next season.
Associated with the agreement between WBD and ESPN, TNT Sports will now televise an exclusive slate of Big 12 football (13 games each season) and men’s basketball (15 games each season) starting with the 2025 season. This builds on TNT Sports’ agreement with ESPN to present the College Football Playoffs with TNT showcasing a pair of First Round games beginning this December.
Additionally, WBD has been granted live NBA game telecast rights in the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden), along with Poland and Latin America (excluding Brazil and Mexico) for the next 11 years. In connection with this live game telecast package, WBD will provide broad reach, local language commentary and promotional opportunities for the NBA’s marketing partners.
“Together these agreements ensure fans will continue to enjoy TNT’s Inside the NBA and create tremendous value for our entire portfolio as we accelerate the growth of TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and our global sports business,” said David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. “We are pleased to partner with the NBA and Disney/ESPN, and to have solidified long-term rights and revenue for WBD.”
“The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning Inside the NBA is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms.”
WBD’s agreement with the NBA also includes a shared commitment to accelerate the global growth of Bleacher Report and House of Highlights – the top digital destinations for highly-engaged, young sport fans – through a new global license that includes expansive content and highlight rights, as well as game access to produce NBA-related content. Bleacher Report and House of Highlights receive widespread promotion across NBA assets, and the NBA will create a section of its digital products (e.g. the NBA App and NBA.com) that will feature basketball-related content produced by B/R, HoH and TNT Sports.
The agreement also reimagines and continues the NBA Digital partnership between the NBA and TNT Sports for five seasons, under which the NBA can engage WBD to provide promotion and a variety of services, including production, content development and sales operations services. WBD will also be a strategic promotional partner for NBA League Pass and, through promotion on B/R, HoH and other WBD digital platforms, help accelerate League Pass subscriber acquisition. In addition, advertising for NBA properties and initiatives will run on WBD linear channels and digital platforms.
TNT Sports, which has been a national rightsholder with the NBA since 1984, has garnered more than 190 Sports Emmy nominations and 45 wins for its NBA coverage. TNT Sports and the NBA have jointly managed NBA Digital, the league’s collection of media assets, since 2009.
(Source: Warner Bros. Discovery)
