The NBA submitted a memorandum of laws on Tuesday to support a request to have the” confidential rules” of its new national press privileges agreements with Amazon and NBCU and its digital rights deal with Bleacher Report sealed.
In July, TBS and Warner Bros. After the NBA was found to have broken their agreement to transmit sports from 2025-26 through 2035-36, Discovery sued the organization. TBS and Warner Bros. The NBA claims that the plaintiffs did n’t and could n’t match the terms of Amazon’s offer, which allows for the delivery of games through streaming rather than linear TV, while discovery believes the NBA is in breach of contract.
The most recent advancement reflects the NBA’s problem that the prosecution will cause the public to learn about “highly sensitive financial and nonfinancial terms” that are included in its business contracts. This problem is prevalent in firms, particularly non-publicly traded ones like the NBA and its 30 franchises, and is not exclusive to the NBA, but it is one that is common when these organizations are forced to share what they believe to be trade strategies and other proprietary information to support legal arguments.
The NBA’s high profile and significant attention in journalists and fans only serve to bolster that issue. To illustrate, Sportico published a tale about intriguing pieces from the NBA’s 2014 deal with WBD in July, which was immediately made public as the prosecution raged. Arbitration and intervention provisions in some business contracts presuppose the resolution of disputes in secret forums to prevent the disclosure risks that have already become apparent in the Turner/WBD v. NBA litigation.
Cohen has currently turned down the NBA’s request to completely seal various files in their entirety. The NBA-NBC Universal media rights deal, a redlined edition of the Amazon give that TBS prepared, and the NBA-Bleacher Report online right deal are among those documents.
In an attempt dated Oct. 7, Cohen concluded the team’s “generalized claims of security” failed to permit full sealings. According to him, there is a “broad premise” that the right to get administrative proceedings and court records is backed by the constitution. However, the judge gave the NBA the opportunity to “isolate” certain sections of those files that may permit sealing.
The most recent filing, which was written by NBA professionals Rick Buchanan and Dan Spillane and Richard C. Pepperman II, targets certain sections of the agreements as deserving of a “much narrower closing get.”
The group says if targeted provisions were made open, the NBA may suffer business risk. To get there, reporting reportedly “would enable another counterparties with which the NBA communicates to understand problems that are essential to the NBA and how the NBA has handled these particular issues.”
The qualified provisions also cover terms relating to certain games that Amazon and NBCU have licensed, the assignment of intellectual property rights, sponsorship agreements, marketing and innovation plans, and other matters. Different terms involve the construction of registration fees, NBA’s future intentions regarding activities and negotiations, and the result of a work stoppage.
The group warns that information made available to the public was “prejudice the NBA in negotiations with other partners” who want to know how much they could lead to a marketing strategy and investment or seek to permit particular types of IP rights. The league adds that if” current media and other partners” were to” compare and contrast sensitive aspects of the NBA’s arrangements with similar partners, such as the quality of games licensed to specific partners or the hospitality benefits granted to them,” the league’s relationships with” these businesses” might be impacted.
Additional defenses brought up by the NBA include the possibility of business harm to non-parties, including NBCU and Amazon, if their agreements are made public. This disclosure may” compromise their ability to negotiate with other parties for rights in other areas unrelated to the NBA.” The NBA also points out that some of the proposed redactions include references to” sensitive bank account information, personally identifying information, and personal contact information that is not relevant to this litigation and should not be shared with the public.”
When the league asked the plaintiffs for their position on the sealing request, the NBA’s filing stated that they could not” say today whether we will take a position.” Cohen will weigh the NBA’s arguments against the public’s interest in litigation filings if Turner and WBD decide not to make a position. The NBA likely has a good chance of the judge approving all or at least some of their requests because Cohen has already indicated he is open to targeted seals.