If Warner Bros. Discovery Loses the NBA, is Venu Doomed? Why Does the NBA Seemingly Prefer NBC’s Offer?
If Warner Bros. Discovery Loses the NBA, is Venu Doomed? Why Does the NBA Seemingly Prefer NBC’s Offer?
A new report offers details on what could happen to the joint venture sports streaming platform if WBD’s NBA package moves to NBC.
No matter how confident Warner Bros. Discovery executives sound when discussing the issue, the company is in a tight spot with the NBA. The company finds itself in the unenviable position of having to pay more than twice the amount it now spends to buy a smaller package of NBA games than it currently has starting in 2025, or simply admitting defeat and walking away in the face of NBC’s $2.5 billion-per-season offer for the package. But WBD’s decision on this question doesn’t just affect its own business, it also has important implications for Venu Sports, the joint venture streaming service WBD is at work on with Disney and Fox.
Key Details:
- Losing WBD’s NBA package would be a blow to the value of Venu Sports, which could have difficulty attracting viewers without the games.
- Despite this, there has been no talk of shutting down the streamer if WBD loses the NBA.
- NBA officials are more comfortable opting for the NBC bid due to Comcast’s stronger financial data.
Losing the NBA would be bad enough for WBD on its own, but there is more at play than just whether or not games air on TNT. The league’s absence would likely mean the end of the popular “Inside the NBA” series, as at least one — and likely all four — hosts have opt-out clauses that will allow them to exit their contracts if TNT no longer carries live games. WBD would also have a harder time selling subscribers of its streaming service Max on the prospect of paying an extra $10 per month to watch its Bleacher Report Sports Add-On, which will presumably become a paid feature of the streamer at some point this summer.
But what would the consequences be for Venu Sports? CNBC reports that a loss of TNT’s NBA package wouldn’t doom the joint venture, but it could drastically reduce the amount of revenue that WBD pulls from it. Revenue splits will be commensurate with the affiliate fees associated with their respective networks, and distributors aren’t likely to keep paying as much for the rights to broadcast TNT if it doesn’t have the NBA past 2024-25.
Without the NBA on TNT, however, there is no question that Disney and Fox would be contributing the bulk of the sports on the service. TNT and TBS would still bring U.S. Soccer, MLB and NHL regular season and playoff games, and games from the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament to Venu Sports, but all NFL, NBA, and college football games on the streamer would be sourced from Disney or Fox.
Of course, with the money that Warner Bros. saves on NBA rights, it very well might reinvest in other sports properties to not only replace the basketball-shaped hole in its programming offerings, but also help improve its contribution to the joint venture.
Can WBD Still Lock Up the NBA?
TNT Sports head Luis Silberwasser said at WBD’s upfront presentation this week that the company still expects to come to an agreement with the NBA. Behind the scenes, however, more and more signs are pointing to the likelihood that WBD has already lost its parcel of NBA games to Comcast and NBC.
CNBC’s report indicates that the Association is not only more comfortable with NBC’s bid because it can expand the league’s reach by offering games on a broadcast channel, but it has more faith in Comcast’s ability to meet its financial obligations if it does become an NBA broadcasting partner. WBD’s more than $40 billion in gross debt and its 4:1 debt-to-earnings ratio has the league concerned that even if it did agree to pay the $2.5 billion per season that NBC is promising, it could struggle to come up with that money over the course of a 10-year deal.
Then there’s the oft-raised question of WBD’s right to match any bid made by NBC or any other third party. Citing two unnamed sources with knowledge of WBD’s talks with the NBA, CNBC says that the company thinks it’s “fairly well protected” by contractual language saying it’s allowed to match a third-party offer, despite reports that the NBA may not consider a dollar-for-dollar match enough due to NBC’s ability to offer wider reach and more desirable broadcasting windows for games.
Things could get fairly messy between the league and WBD before it’s all said and done. Warner Bros. Discovery may try to sue the league if the NBA declares that a matching-dollar contract offer isn’t fully equitable with NBC’s bid, and attempts to sign with that network instead. However, WBD CEO David Zaslav might decide that he was right when he said that his company didn’t “have to have the NBA” and decline to make a formal bid for the Association after all.
Venu Sports
Venu Sports was the planned live TV streaming service that would offer sports from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, and truTV. Programming from ESPN+ and on-demand content would also be available, as would broadcasts of NFL, NBA, MLB, and NCAA games. However, in January 2025, after Fubo and Hulu + Live TV officially merged, Venu’s launch was put on hold thanks to a preliminary injunction. It was only a few days later that the joint venture was officially shut down for good.