Paramount’s planned $110 billion takeover of TNT Sports parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is facing a new challenge as a dozen states collectively sued the two media conglomerates on Monday, alleging the deal would “extinguish competition” across much of the entertainment business.
A month after the U.S. Department of Justice approved the far-reaching media deal, the states, led by California, filed a claim in U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California seeking to block the deal. The plaintiffs argued that the proposed union of Paramount—the parent company of CBS Sports—and WBD will harm consumers and employees alike.
“The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater in the U.S.,” said California attorney general Rob Bonta, who is leading the lawsuit on behalf other the states.
The complaint focuses primarily on the potential Hollywood-related impacts of the deal, and an alleged violation of federal antitrust law, but the Paramount-WBD impact also has far-reaching sports impacts. The planned combination of TNT Sports and CBS Sports would have touchpoints in nearly every major pro and college sports entity in the U.S., with the notable exception of the NBA.
