INSIDE OUT
Inside the NBA could survive beyond TNT rights ending with Chuck and Shaq taking on new role in revamped show
The show's popular hosts have been offered a lifeline
FAN-favorite show Inside the NBA could survive despite TNT Sports losing its rights package.
There have been fears for the beloved show's future beyond the end of next season with Warner Bros. Discovery not landing a piece of the league's new TV deal.
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Host Charles Barkley claimed he would retire after the upcoming NBA season.
But he has since changed his mind and vowed to stay with the network.
It has been claimed that Inside the NBA could survive by evolving into a show that covers more sports.
Wall Street Journal is reporting that TNT could rebrand its offering as Inside Sports.
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TNT and TBS will still be broadcasting college basketball and football, as well as baseball, hockey, and tennis.
Barkley's reputation is as a basketball analyst but he has contributed to golf and hockey coverage.
It would be a risky move but offers a potential lifeline for Chuck, Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith.
The NBA announced that NBC and Amazon Prime Video would join ESPN as broadcast partners as part of a landmark 11-year, $77 billion TV deal.
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NBC snapped up TNT's game package to get the league back on its airwaves for the first time since 2002.
The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned network attempted to hijack Amazon's $1.8 billion deal, using its matching rights included in the current contract.
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However, the NBA said Wednesday the proposal "did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video's offer."
Barkley claimed that the league "wanted to break up with us from the beginning" in a bitter reaction to the news.
"I'm not sure TNT ever had a chance," the Inside the NBA analyst wrote in a statement via Bleacher Report.
"TNT matched the money, but the league knows Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future."
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"The NBA didn't want to piss them off.
"It's a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans. It just sucks.
"I just want to thank everyone who has been at Turner for the last 24 years.
"They are the best people and the most talented and they deserve better.
"I also want to thank the NBA and its fans — the best fans in sports.
"We're going to give you everything we have next season."
WBD issued a strong statement after seeing its matching offer rejected, saying the league "grossly misinterpreted our contractual rights with respect to the 2025-26 season and beyond" while vowing to "take appropriate action."
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The media giant also immediately began to weigh legal options in order to keep the NBA on TNT, The U.S. Sun has been told.
"They are making a huge mistake – and a legal mistake in our opinion," a TNT insider close to the negotiations with the NBA said.