Reports are the NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery reached a lawsuit settlement; TNT's Inside the NBA set to air on ESPN and ABC next season.
Though confirmation and specifics on the deal are expected early next week, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have reached an agreement that will settle WBD's breach of contract lawsuit against the NBA. The bad news? WBD's TNT is still losing regular and postseason games after this season. The good news? Outside of that, WBD will be in business with the NBA for the next 11 years, with the ability to develop new programming with NBC content in the U.S. and internationally (along with international NBA rights in parts of Northern Europe and Latin America - not including Mexico and Brazil).
In addition, WBD's Bleacher Report and House of Highlights will continue to have access to NBA content, and WBD will continue to oversee the NBA's digital operations (including NBA TV) over the next several years. Basically, WBD will still be able to play in the league's sandbox even if it doesn't get a pail and shovel to play with. Again, until things are finalized and announced, all of what's being reported so far is from sources - though sources reportedly close to the dealings.
Once in place, the agreement would settle the lawsuit that WBD filed against the league over the summer after the league announced new rights deals with Disney/ESPN, Comcast/NBCUniversal, and Amazon.com - set to run for 11 years and estimated to value approximately $80 billion. WBD claimed that the NBA violated its right to submit a matching offer during the league's deal with Amazon.
Fans of TNT's Inside the NBA can start looking forward to seeing it on ESPN and ABC. In a separate deal, WBD and Disney have reportedly agreed to license the show to begin airing next season. Also, ESPN will reportedly sublicense Big 12 Conference college football and basketball games to WBD to air on TNT and stream on Max.