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By Dawn Chmielewski
(Reuters) -Warner Bros Discovery's sports network TNT Sports said on Monday it would exercise its rights to match one of three bids to carry National Basketball Association games, in an effort to preserve its four-decade-long partnership with the league.
TNT Sports did not say which of the NBA programming packages it was seeking to match, however one source familiar with the offer said the company is seeking to match Amazon Prime Video's offer of $1.9 billion per season, on average, over the life of the 11-year deal.
Amazon declined to comment, referring inquiries to the NBA, which could not be immediately reached.
TNT Sports' announcement comes days after the league informed team owners it had finalized deals with Walt Disney's ESPN, Comcast's NBCUniversal and Amazon. The deal is reportedly valued at $76 billion, and takes effect after the 2024-25 season.
The league notified Warner's sports unit last week, triggering a five-day period to inform the NBA whether it would seek to match one of the bids, according to the source.
"We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them," TNT said in a statement. "This will allow fans to keep enjoying our unparalleled coverage."
TNT described the matching provision an "integral part" of its current contract, which it has paid for. If the NBA rejected the matching bid, it could result in legal action.
The bid is "a risky move that could anger the NBA and sour WBD's reputation among other sports leagues that it may be interested in doing business with," said Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes.
"However, the NBA is so valuable to the company that desperate measures may be warranted."
The Warner unit has been bulking up its sports programming, in June announcing a six-year deal with the Big East Conference to carry men's and women's college basketball and a decade-long agreement with the French Tennis Federation to carry the French Open.
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru, Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Rod Nickel and Stephen Coates)
