Warner Bros. Secures 11-Year NBA Deal Extension

On Monday, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc WBD and the National Basketball Association announced they have extended their partnership for another 11 years, strengthening their long-standing relationship.

The renewed agreement will enhance NBA content distribution and expand the collaboration across Warner Bros. Discovery’s digital sports platforms, including TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, and House of Highlights. Warner Bros. Discovery stock gained on the news.

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The new deal includes a global licensing arrangement that allows TNT Sports and its affiliates to produce and distribute NBA content across multiple platforms.

Warner Bros. Discovery now holds the exclusive rights to televise NBA games in several international markets, including the Nordics, Poland, and regions in Latin America, excluding Brazil and Mexico.

The coverage will feature local commentary and provide broad access for NBA fans in these territories.

Under the reimagined NBA Digital partnership, Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA will continue co-managing the league’s digital media assets, building on their collaboration since 2009.

The updated agreement includes a commitment to promote NBA League Pass across Warner Bros. Discovery’s digital platforms, such as Bleacher Report and House of Highlights.

This strategy aims to boost subscriber growth and enhance the overall digital experience for basketball fans. The renewed agreement also introduces an innovative partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery and ESPN.

TNT Sports will produce and air Inside the NBA, the Emmy-winning studio show, on ESPN and ABC during the regular season and playoffs starting in the 2025-26 season.

Additionally, Warner Bros. Discovery will broadcast exclusive college sports content, including Big 12 football and basketball games and select College Football Playoff games, further diversifying its sports programming lineup.

Both organizations have pledged to support the global growth of Bleacher Report and House of Highlights, which cater to a younger, digitally-savvy audience.

The expanded licensing rights will enable Warner Bros. Discovery to create more NBA-related content, driving fan engagement and broadening the reach of these popular sports brands.

Streaming companies, including Netflix Inc NFLX and Amazon.Com Inc AMZN Prime Video, have ramped up spending on live sports content, including the NBA and National Football League.

Warner Bros Discovery stock plunged 18% year-to-date as it battled challenges from its traditional TV networks and a $9 billion write-down due to the failure of the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery.

The company has been unable to meet the analyst consensus estimates since at least the first quarter of 2022. It has also been unable to reach the consensus estimate for EPS since the second quarter of 2022.

Warner Bros. Discovery reported a fiscal third-quarter revenue decline of 3% ex-FX to $9.6 billion, missing the consensus estimate of $9.8 billion. EPS of 5 cents beat the analyst consensus loss of 9 cents. Max added 7.2 million new subscribers.

Price Action: WBD stock is up 2.90% at $9.49 at the last check Monday.

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