The future of the NBA on TNT and, more specifically, Inside the NBA has never been more in doubt than it is right now.
For weeks, we’ve been following the reporting on the NBA’s new broadcast deal negotiations. The league agreed to a $76 billion deal with ESPN, NBC and Amazon, making all three entities the new home of the NBA for the next 11 seasons. TNT and Turner Sports were on the outside looking in.
That is, until just a few days ago, when TNT announced it’d be using a clause in its current contract with the NBA to match its deal with Amazon, meaning that the league would remain a partner with the network and that Inside the NBA would survive.
However, the NBA made it clear that it wanted to move on and partner with Amazon, leaving room for things between the two sides to get messy.
Now, things are officially messy.
The NBA released a statement saying Warner Bros. Discovery and TNT did not match the terms of the Amazon Prime deal and that the league was moving on.
NBA announces that Warner Bros. Discovery did not match the terms of Amazon Prime and are agreeing to a longterm arrangement with Amazon. pic.twitter.com/5bYI2i1vFd
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 24, 2024
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon. Throughout these negotiations our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibilty of our games for our fans. Our new arragement with Amazong supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements. All three partners have committed substantial resources to pmorote the league and enhance the fan experience.”
With the NBA now taking the first step forward in officially moving on with its new partners, we’ve got three big questions about how things happened and where things go from here.
Did the NBA get off on a technicality?
The NBA makes it clear as day that TNT did not match the terms of Amazon Prime’s agreement. But what does that mean, specifically?
It doesn’t sound like this is a money thing. Warner Bros. Discovery targeted the Amazon Prime deal because it thought it could match it financially. The terms that didn’t match seem to go beyond financials.
The league says its primary objective has been to “maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans.” It touts Amazon’s ability to complement the broadcast, cable and streaming packages currently available.
Did Amazon seem to agree to a service that Warner Bros. Discovery can’t replicate? This bit from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand’s piece on the situation after TNT decided to match the deal a few days ago may shed some light on things.
“While the exact matching language of the deals is not fully known, the package that Amazon has won is not exactly the same as TNT Sports’ current arrangement. For example, TNT’s present contract calls for the conference finals every year as compared to every other. The NBA and Amazon may have agreed to other rights that TNT cannot deliver.”
If the NBA and Amazon have agreed to things TNT can’t do, the league may have felt that was enough reason to nix the deal.
Will TNT take this to court?
With the NBA seemingly moving on here, what is the next step for TNT? Surely, the network isn’t going to give this up without a fight. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have made the effort to match.
As far as TNT is concerned, according to Marchand’s latest from The Athletic, the network’s matching rights simply allow it to say whether it wants to keep the NBA or not — that may be considered different from matching the deal word for word in the network’s eyes.
If that’s the case, TNT could take this thing to court, though, neither side reportedly wants to go there. Here’s more from Marchand:
“Neither side would likely want to enter a legal case, where private conversations could become public during discovery. If TNT does file a suit, it could lead to more talks and a possible compromise with other NBA rights or financial possibilities being the outcome.”
We’ll see.
There will be lawyers and billable hours. pic.twitter.com/wHLwFwKfRM
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) July 24, 2024
Where does Inside the NBA go from here?
This is the big question everyone wants the answer to. What happens to Inside the NBA moving forward?
We know that TNT retains the NBA’s rights for the 2024-25 season, so we’ll get at least one more season of Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson together. We also know that Charles Barkley says he’s retiring after next season, regardless of the show’s fate.
But what about everyone else? Will the show just dissolve next season? There may be a scenario where some of the personalities we see on TNT simply migrate over to other networks to cover the league. We’ll just have to wait and see.
But reality is here now. We may be watching the end of an era next season. Honestly, after 40 years, it’s kind of sad to see.