WarnerBros. Discovery makes last-ditch effort for NBA rights

WarnerBros. Discovery (WBD) is making a last-ditch effort to secure the next round of NBA rights and retain its status as a leading broadcaster of the league’s games.

In a statement on Monday, Turner Sports, which is owned by WBD, said  the NBA had “notified us of its intention to accept other offers for the games in our current rights package, leaving us to proceed under the matching rights provision, which is an integral part of our current agreement and the rights we have paid for under it.”

“We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them,” the company said. “Our matching paperwork was submitted to the league today.”

The company did not provide more details on the offer it had submitted.

The news comes as the NBA is reportedly close to finalizing an 11-year agreement with Disney, NBC and Amazon Prime Video that will be worth about $76 billion for the rights to show its games.

“Without getting into the specifics of the deal, I’d say philosophically we set out with certain goals in these negotiations and part of them were economic and part of them also led to what are the best ways we can serve our fans going forward,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month.

“Part of it was to get additional broadcast exposure, and hopefully we will have accomplished that. And also, to get more streaming connectivity with our fans, because in terms of traditional television — while still vital — there is a large portion of our fan base that no longer subscribes to those services.”

Live sports continue to serve as the single largest driver of audience for major media companies like WBD, which is facing intensifying questions about its financial health and business strategy as more consumers cut cable and the industry grapples with a declining advertising market for linear television.

The Associated Press contributed