NBA argues TNT’s offer was a counteroffer, not a match

The NBA has made a decisive final push to dismiss a lawsuit filed by TNT, contending that the network’s alleged match of Amazon’s broadcasting deal was, in fact, a counteroffer. The league maintains that TNT’s revisions to the deal go beyond what could be considered a true match under contract law.

“Under New York law, ‘every competitor has a right to attempt to win a contract by offering terms which its competitors can’t meet,’ and the seller is ‘free to seek and accept such terms as were consistent with its legitimate business interests,’” the league argued in a filing submitted late Wednesday with the Supreme Court of the State of New York, where the case is being litigated.

The NBA insists that TNT did not present a legally valid match of Amazon’s terms, but instead made significant alterations that turned their proposal into a counteroffer, which does not satisfy the requirements for maintaining the lawsuit.

Amazon’s package with the NBA, reportedly valued at more than $1.8 billion per year, has raised the stakes for TNT. The NBA emphasized the extent of TNT’s modifications in its latest filing: “[TNT Sports does] not deny, as [the NBA] stressed, that [the network] revised eight of the Amazon offer’s 27 sections, changed 11 definitions, struck nearly 300 words, and added over 270 new words,” the league wrote. “Plaintiffs’ redline was a counteroffer, not a match. That should be the end of this case.”

Should the case proceed to trial, both sides have agreed to an expedited schedule, with the trial currently slated for early April. However, any appeals could extend the legal battle into the 2025-2026 NBA season, coinciding with the launch of the league’s new media deals.