There has been a lot of discussion in recent weeks about what will happen with the NBA media rights deals following their current contracts for the 2024-25 season. ESPN and ABC have broadcast the NBA on their networks since 2002, and the two sides have maintained an excellent relationship with one another. That was one of the driving forces behind the league resuming the 2019-20 season in the NBA Bubble at Walt Disney World. The relationship the league has had with TNT and Turner Sports has been around since 1989, a famous timestamp we are always reminded of during Inside the NBA with Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, and Charles Barkley, the network's award-winning show.
NBA fans have come to adore Inside the NBA and all of the theatrics that happen each and every night they broadcast games. The show has become more of a hit than the games themselves, as it oftentimes features O'Neal, Barkley, and Smith jokingly mocking one another for the pure enjoyment of the fans. Over its history, Inside the NBA has won 18 different Sports Emmy Awards, signifying how exceptional the show truly is outside of just talking about the game of basketball itself.
Unfortunately, all great things always seem to come to a premature end, and Turner Sports has appeared to meet its match. The NBA has been formalizing written contracts with Disney, NBC, and Amazon to be the three companies that will air NBA games and content for the foreseeable future. This has left Turner Sports and their award-winning show on the backburner, likely meaning that their time handling the league's media rights is over.
Disney, NBC, and Amazon are all finalizing written contracts with the NBA this week as they hammer out the final few details in the final stage of media rights negotiations, according to the Sports Business Journal. This could lead Warner Bros. Discovery, the governing body over Turner Sports, to take legal action.
The NBA is expected to receive close to $2.8 billion from ESPN for their rights to the league's material. This “A” package will include the NBA Finals, a conference final, weekly primetime games, the WNBA, and likely shared international rights, according to SBJ. As for the “B” package from NBC, this deal is being reported to cost around $2.6 billion to include a total of two primetime windows a week, conference semifinals, and a conference final. Amazon's deal with the NBA is in the $1.8 billion to $2 billion range, which would include the rights to the Emirates In-Season Tournament, the SoFi Play-In Tournament, first-round playoff games, the WNBA, and international rights.
Once these deals are finalized this week and the three companies that have written agreements with the NBA as part of these new media deals get approval from their respective boards, the league will then go to Warner Bros. Discovery in order to see if they can match NBC's offer.
NBA turning back on Warner Bros. Discover
The NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery have been in business with one another for just about four decades. The relationship these two entities hold remains strong, but the league has set a precedent for maximizing the value of their new media rights deals, which will go into effect following the 2024-25 season.
After ending their exclusive window to renew a deal with ESPN and Warner on April 22, the NBA has been working on new media rights deals with ESPN, Amazon, and NBC. This has left the futures of the NBA on TNT and Inside the NBA very much in question.
Although ongoing discussions are being had, the general belief right now is that the NBA is prepared to agree to their three new deals with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon. As a result, Warner Bros. Discovery will be left with a monumental decision that could flatline their coverage of professional sports.
Warner is about $40 billion in debt right now, and it is assumed that they do not have the same infrastructure that NBC does in order to obtain one of the new NBA media rights deals, according to SBJ. The belief is that WBD would need to pay more than $2.6 billion just to match NBC's current offer. Now, Warner Bros. Discovery can either pull out of the offer entirely, wind up overpaying to keep their deal with the NBA, or they can opt to take the league to court based on their clause to match any deal from rival companies.
It has become clear that ESPN and Amazon will be getting packages from the NBA as a result of these new media rights negotiations. However, there are still ongoing discussions about whether Warner Bros. Discovery even has the ability to match NBC's powerful $2.6 billion deal that has been proposed and subsequently agreed upon behind closed doors.
The 2024-25 NBA season figures to be the last we see of Inside the NBA with Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, and Charles Barkley, thus ending the best sports television show.
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