Warner Bros. Discovery filed a 33-page memorandum on September 20th that aims to convince New York Judge Joel M. Cohen to deny the NBA’s motion to dismiss their breach of contract lawsuit.
The case centers on whether the NBA failed to honor WBD’s match rights as the league moved forward with their media rights deal with Amazon. WBD contends they matched Amazon’s offer.
Signed by attorney David L. Yohai on behalf of himself and other attorneys from the law firms Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Hausfeld, the memo focuses on why a dismissal of “multi-billion-dollar issues” is allegedly unwarranted.
The goal of the memo is to get the case past a motion to dismiss, which would mean parties would share evidence and provide sworn testimony as part of discovery.
TBS and WBD maintain there is a disagreement over the facts of match rights. They also maintain questions about whether the NBA “acted in bad faith to circumvent TBS’s matching rights” warrant a closer look.
If the case advances, court records indicate a trial is expected to be held sometime in April 2025. TNT will continue broadcasting the NBA during the 24-25 season.