Warner Bros. Discovery sues NBA to secure media rights awarded to Amazon

Warner Bros. Discovery sued the NBA on Friday as it tries to maintain broadcast rights for a package of live games.

"Given the NBA's unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights," the company's TNT Sports unit said in a statement. "We strongly believe this is not just our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to keep watching our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed WBD video-first distribution platforms — including TNT and Max."

The media company seeks to prevent the NBA from awarding the rights to Amazon, whose games package Warner Bros. Discovery tried to match, or aims to win monetary damages.

The NBA said Wednesday it had reached agreements with Disney, Comcast's NBCUniversal and Amazon on three different packages of games, ending its nearly 40-year relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery's Turner Sports. The 11-year media rights deal is worth roughly $77 billion — a massive increase over the previous agreement as the value of live sports booms.

In response to the suit, NBA spokesman Mike Bass said "Warner Bros. Discovery's claims are without merit and our lawyers will address them."

Warner Bros. Discovery said earlier this week it submitted paperwork to the league to match one of the packages, which people familiar with the matter identified as the $1.8 billion-per-year group of games earmarked for Amazon. The tech giant's deal includes regular-season games, the in-season tournament and some playoff games.

The NBA granted Warner Bros. Discovery matching rights when it signed its previous media deal in 2014. The provision is meant to give an incumbent company