July 22, 2024

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TNT Sports makes its big move to exercise the matching rights in its NBA agreement, marking the latest major move in the high-profile saga. … The WNBA’s All-Star weekend marks another major inflection point in what has been a breakthrough season. … Chiefs president Mark Donovan has a target for the team to make a decision on its stadium future. … Plus: More on the Prime energy drink, the Raiders, Adidas, and Peacock.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

TNT Sports’ Parent Moves to Keep NBA Rights Despite Financial Woes [[link removed]]

Inside The NBA

TNT Sports parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is attempting to make good on its bid to retain NBA rights, and has made its first big move in exercising its matching rights.

The company on Monday, as expected [[link removed]], submitted a formal response to the NBA’s 11-year, $76 billion rights deals [[link removed]] with Disney, NBC Sports, and Amazon, meeting a five-day deadline [[link removed]] to respond to the league. WBD is targeting Amazon’s “C” package. That set of rights, estimated at $1.8 billion per year, includes a conference final every other season, early-round playoffs in line with what is currently on NBA TV, weekly regular-season broadcasts, the Emirates NBA Cup, and WNBA rights, among other assets.

“Regrettably, the league 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 rights agreement and the rights we have paid for under it,” WBD said Monday afternoon in a statement. “We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them.”

Bigger Questions

Despite WBD’s move, questions persist about whether the league is fully able to absorb the required costs.

Already saddled [[link removed]] with $39 billion in debt and a sagging stock, WBD saw its shares on Monday fall another 1.4%, bringing its decline for the year to 27% and leaving its market capitalization at about $21 billion. Such a figure is a mere fraction of Amazon’s $1.91 trillion, Disney’s $173.5 billion, and Comcast’s $155.3 billion. The Ringer’s Bill Simmons said on The Town podcast [[link removed]] that Amazon has agreed to pay several years of its rights fees up front, a sum that could approach $6 billion. Industry sources, however, said that WBD has obtained letters of credit that would similarly enable the company to handle an escalated up-front rights payment. Deeper Bond?

WBD, meanwhile, is additionally seeking to leverage the unique nature of its NBA ties that go back four decades through its corporate predecessors. Over those years, league officials up to and including commissioner Adam Silver have frequently spoken of TNT Sports as much more than just a rights partner, and also, a deeply trusted ally of the league.

That level of trust has manifested itself in multiple ways, including Inside the NBA (above) becoming one of the top studio shows in sports television history and standing out with its candidness, and TNT Sports and the league operating NBA.com and NBA TV since 2008 through a joint venture.

But many of the key TNT Sports figures who have been instrumental in forging that bond—including former Turner Sports president Harvey Schiller, former Turner president David Levy, former WBD Sports president Lenny Daniels, and former WBD Sports senior vice president Tara August, among others—are no longer with the company, leaving a different set of personal relationships with the league.

WNBA All-Star Weekend Signals League’s Growth, Delivers Action [[link removed]]

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

WNBA All-Star weekend signaled the halfway point of a landmark season—and it also provided a snapshot of the league’s monumental rise.

The game featured the 2024 rookie class that has been credited for much of the league’s newfound attention, and its two biggest names and rivals—Caitlin Clark (above, left) and Angel Reese (above, right)—were on the same side for the first time.

The WNBA has had 16 games average more than one million viewers this season, already more than the league’s single-season record. All but two of those games featured Clark and the Fever, while the two most-watched contests [[link removed]] were between the Fever and Reese’s Sky.

The game’s success also comes on the heels of the report [[link removed]] that the WNBA’s media-rights deal is expected to be worth $2.2 billion over 11 years, or about $200 million annually. That annual figure would be worth more than three times the estimated $60 million per year the league’s currently receiving from ESPN, Amazon, CBS, and Ion. However, the WNBA agreement is still tied to the $75 billion deal that the NBA is finalizing with ESPN, ABC, and Amazon.

“I haven’t been shy in saying we’ve been preparing for this moment for many years, saying how important media deals are to the growth and the future of this league, and these deals will be historic and a significant step forward,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said before the All-Star Game.

An All-Star Game Worth Watching

While the rookies were the center of attention, both teams delivered on the court. This year’s format pitted USA’s Olympics roster against a select group of WNBA talents, many of whom were essentially Team USA snubs.

Clark’s highly publicized omission from this year’s roster was met with a ton of criticism [[link removed]] in the media [[link removed]], but Team WNBA also included former MVP Nneka Ogwumike and Arike Ogunbowale, whose USA roster exclusions have been discussed well before this season.

Before the game, Team WNBA coach Cheryl Miller admitted her players wanted “to beat the brakes” off Team USA. Her team ended up winning, 117–109, led by All-Star MVP Ogunbowale, who scored 34 points. Clark finished with 10 assists, a rookie record in the All-Star Game, while Reese had a double double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Take Note, NBA

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has tried and mostly failed [[link removed]] to make his league’s All-Star Game competitive, but Saturday’s WNBA showcase could provide a blueprint for the NBA.

The timing might be tricky for the NBA, as the USA roster would not be set by its All-Star Game normally scheduled in February. But the option to capitalize on competitiveness, especially following Celtics star Jaylen Brown’s comments about being snubbed [[link removed]] from this year’s roster, could be worth consideration given the WNBA’s proof of concept.

It wouldn’t be the first time the NBA took inspiration from the WNBA. The WNBA’s regular-season tournament, the Commissioner’s Cup, started in 2021, and the NBA adopted it in ’23.

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LOUD AND CLEAR Far From Settled

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

“I would say every option is on the table.”

—Chiefs president Mark Donovan (above), responding to heightened activity from Kansas [[link removed]] and Missouri [[link removed]] to lure the two-time defending Super Bowl champions with a new or renovated stadium. In recent weeks, Kansas has approved bonding for a new Chiefs stadium there, while Missouri has responded in part by Gov. Mike Parson getting personally involved in developing a reworked plan after April’s ballot box defeat [[link removed]] in Jackson County.

The Chiefs’ lease at Arrowhead Stadium expires in 2031, but the team is looking for clarity on its stadium situation by early next year. “We feel like we need to get something done in the next six months to figure out and be in a good position,” Donovan said. “So that’s the timeline we’re working on. … This is a generational decision. This is going to impact the future of this franchise for generations. We’ve got to get it right, and we are going to do the due diligence.”

AWARD

The Front Office Sports Most Impactful Award [[link removed]] celebrates organizations that leverage their power and platform to create positive change beyond generating revenue and expanding their business.

Early submissions are now open through July 28 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Submit now [[link removed]].

STATUS REPORT Three Down, One Push

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Prime ⬇ The energy drink founded in 2022 by social media influencer Logan Paul (above, left) and Olajide “KSI” Olatunji (above, right) is being sued by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee for trademark infringement. The committee claims Prime used phrases and symbols on a special edition of its drink featuring Kevin Durant that were unauthorized. Driven by the star power of its founders, Prime broke $1 billion [[link removed]] in sales in ’23 but has reportedly [[link removed]] seen sales dip significantly this year, at least in the U.K.

Las Vegas Raiders ⬇ The Raiders are back in their old stomping grounds of Southern California for training camp, but the team is not allowed to tell the public. NFL policy bars the Raiders from promoting that they are back in SoCal because it infringes on the “territorial marketing rights” of the Rams and Chargers, according to ESPN [[link removed]]. Raiders fans still have a stronghold in California given the franchise’s 60-year presence in the state before moving to Vegas in 2020.

Adidas⬇ Fashion model Bella Hadid is reportedly preparing to sue the German-based athletics brand. Hadid, who is of Palestinian descent, was featured in an ad for Adidas’s SL 72 shoes, which were first released during the 1972 Olympics, the same Games in which a Palestinian militant group killed 11 Israeli athletes.

Peacock ⬆⬇ A 33% subscription-price increase for NBC’s streaming platform took effect July 18, perhaps not coincidentally just over a week before the Paris Olympics. While this is not great news for Peacock subscribers, it should help ease NBC’s losses, which were still at $639 million in Q1 despite an increase of three million subscribers. It’s worth watching whether NBC institutes another price hike if it can secure the rights to the NBA.

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Conversation Starters Gatorade honored recently retired WNBA star Candace Parker with a billboard. Check it out [[link removed]]. The WNBA All-Star Game drew a sold-out crowd of more than 18,000 people at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Take a look [[link removed]] at the scene. Xander Schauffele’s win at the Open led to a sweep of the four golf majors by American golfers [[link removed]]. The last time that happened was in 1982. Editors’ Picks USOPC Sues Logan Paul’s Drink Company Ahead of Olympics [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]It’s not the first time the beverage company is under scrutiny. Chicago Sky Finally Ditching Suburban Rec Center As Practice Facility [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Players have left and overlooked Chicago for teams with more investment. Thom Brennaman Returns to Booth Years After Viral Slur [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]‘There’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos.’ DISCLAIMER

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