As a website that covers sports media, we know that any mention of a C-suite executive typically requires some sort of descriptor. Even if we’re writing about Jimmy Pitaro or Eric Shanks, it’s good to remind readers that we’re referencing the people in charge of ESPN and Fox Sports, respectively.
There are, of course, some exceptions to the rule. David Zaslav is clearly one of them.
Even if you’ve only loosely followed the NBA’s media rights negotiations over the course of the past few months, you’re likely more than familiar with Zaslav, the CEO and president of Warner Bros. Discovery. Or perhaps more accurately at this point: he’s the man who lost WBD’s most valuable property, the NBA.
While that’s not necessarily a done deal, the writing is on the wall. Even if WBD emerges victorious in a potential legal battle or leverages that threat into a sliver of the league’s rights deal (or more likely, a payoff), the reality is that Zaslav’s leadership has put the NBA in a position where it’s more than comfortable walking away from its longest media rights partner.
In fact, it seems to be the NBA’s preference.
Ultimately, these are billion-dollar decisions and there will be plenty of blame to go around if/when WBD officially loses the NBA for good. But like Don Draper famously said, that’s what the money is for. And when it comes to WBD’s efforts to keep the NBA on its airwaves, Zaslav’s faults go further than the responsibilities associated with his job title.
Then again, perhaps Zaslav is perfectly fine with the way all of this played out — after all, he’s the same person who said in November 2022, “We don’t have to have the NBA.” Even at the time, many viewed the quote as a thinly veiled negotiating tactic, which it was. It also proved to be the quote that will define not only Zaslav’s tenure at WBD, but his career as a media executive.
As it became increasingly clear that WBD would be on the outside looking in of the NBA’s media rights deal, many — including arguably WBD’s most high profile employee, Charles Barkley — were quick to point to Zaslav’s infamous comment regarding his company’s relationship with the league. And while it’s unlikely that the comment was a sticking point in WBD’s failed negotiations, it also certainly didn’t help and seemingly served as a challenge for the NBA to consider all of its options.
Not only did the NBA do just that, but WBD apparently helped the league find one of the partners who replaced it. According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, it was WBD that first suggested the NBA get Amazon involved in its negotiations — a move that helped grease the wheels for the league to end its 35-year presence on TNT.
On this note, I’m told TNT Sports initiated the idea of bringing Amazon in. TNT declined comment. https://t.co/vEDQ1TuDKF
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 24, 2024
While it’s unclear how involved Zaslav was in the decision to bring Amazon into the negotiations, it’s hard to imagine he didn’t at least sign off. And if challenging the NBA to look elsewhere and then bringing your own replacement into the negotiations weren’t enough, there have also been plenty of indications that the league simply wasn’t satisfied with its partnership with WBD under Zaslav’s leadership, with the company losing several sports staffers and executives who were seen as crucial to its NBA partnership.
At the end of the day, being the CEO of a public company is a results-based job. And WBD’s stock performance under Zaslav has spoken volumes.
Dating back to the finalization of the merger to form Warner Bros. Discovery in April 2022, the company’s stock price has dropped by more than 67 percent. That includes a drop of nearly 25 percent over the course of the past six months, during which time it became increasingly clear that WBD’s partnership with the NBA was likely coming to an end and nearly 6 percent since the league announced it wouldn’t be accepting WBD’s attempt to match Amazon’s offer earlier this week.
I do wonder when big Warner Bros Discovery shareholders lose patience with management. Shares are down 68% since the merger was completed in 2022https://t.co/O6GbedYegY $WBD #NBA #NBAonTNT @RichLightShed #hollywood #streaming @claireatki pic.twitter.com/KV47MVcp9N
— Roben Farzad 🎙️ (@robenfarzad) July 25, 2024
Does Warner Bros. Discovery have to have the NBA, as Zaslav insisted it didn’t? We’re about to find out. But when it comes to his legacy, those are the words that will now define it, with the answer already appearing to be self-evident.
