NBA TV rights package to save Inside the NBA ‘about as dead as it can be’ with Charles Barkley set to retire
THE odds of TNT Sports securing a fourth TV rights package from the NBA are said to be minuscule.
The news comes not long after Inside the NBA star Charles Barkley shockingly announced he would retire from television next year.
Earlier in June, reports claimed that WBD held talks with the NBA over purchasing a smaller, fourth package of games after the league struck tentative agreements with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon.
But the idea is "about as dead as it can be," Puck's sports media insider, John Ourand, reported on Thursday.
"Executives from Amazon, Disney, and NBC haven’t heard anything about a fourth package, virtually confirming the notion," Ourand wrote.
"The current offers are all based on three packages, and all three companies would have to scramble if the NBA decided to add a fourth, regardless of where those games came from."
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Ourand said that a fourth package would likely cause ESPN, NBC, and Amazon to try to renegotiate their contracts at a lower price, claiming it "dilutes" the overall value of the deal.
Those were reportedly for 11 years, generating a whopping $76 billion for the league.
It's highly unlikely any of the networks would walk away, though, the Puck reporter added.
The update follows a recent report by The New York Times that claimed WBD will try using its contractual right to match third-party offers after all.
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Unlike what was previously suggested, the outlet said, the media giant is believed to be targeting Amazon's tentatively agreed package, not NBC's.
However, the NBA's legal team is reportedly still trying to work out the correct interpretation of WBD's matching rights considering the agreement was written in the pre-streaming era.
That's because the league might consider games available to stream on platforms like Prime Video to have a higher value than those televised on cable networks like TNT.
The NBA has been open about trying to increase its streaming output.
"It allows for tremendous additional functionality when it comes to watching games, personalization, customization of games, multiple feeds, multiple dialects, multiple languages, different camera angles," commissioner Adam Silver said before the 2024 NBA Finals tipped off.
"It really gives the fan enormous additional choice that you don't have through traditional television."
What the new TV deal means for the NBA?
By The U.S. Sun's Assistant Sports Editor Damian Burchardt.
THE new TV rights deal is promising to be a humongous win for NBA players.
The league is set to more than double the revenue coming from its media partners, pocketing about $6.9 billion per year, which will inevitably lead to a huge salary cap spike in 2025-26.
That is going to send the value of player contracts skyrocketing.
Projected figures suggest we might see the first $100 million-per-year deal being signed soon.
Currently, Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown is projected to earn the highest single-season salary in NBA history, collecting $65.1 million in 2028-29.
It does feel like basketball fans would be on the losing side of the fight if the NBA and TNT indeed parted ways, though.
Inside the NBA is a one-of-a-kind sports entertainment show, as evidenced by ESPN's ongoing failure to come up with its own version of the program in recent years.
The NBA won't be the same without Kenny and Ernie trying to make sense of Shaq and Chuck's never-ending bickering every Tuesday night.
Even if TNT manages to salvage the three-decade-long relationship with the NBA, it might not be able to save Inside the NBA, though.
Barkley, one of the show's stars, recently shocked the media world, saying he would end his TV career after the end of the 2024-25 season.
"You know there's been a lot of noise around our network the last few months, he said on NBA TV during the Finals.
"And I just want to say I've talked to all the other networks, but I ain't going nowhere other than TNT.
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"But I have made the decision myself, no matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television.
Barkley has been part of the Inside the NBA cast since 2000.