TNT Sports will air two first-round College Football Playoff games in 2024 and future years. TNT reached a deal with ESPN in which ESPN sublicensed these games from its College Football Playoff rights package. ESPN needed the revenue after paying a lot of money up front to have primary broadcast rights for the 12-team playoff. With TNT needing studio talent in addition to a broadcast team for the playoff, a lot of college football fans and sports fans think Charles Barkley is a natural choice to be on the TNT crew.
First of all, a lot of sports fans are sad that TNT’s “Inside the NBA” show appears to be on its deathbed. There have been no announced plans to keep the show on the air beyond next season, given that TNT is losing NBA media rights. (NBC, which formerly covered the NBA, is back in the game as an NBA broadcaster.) Barkley seems likely to find, or want, another new media involvement after “Inside the NBA.” Working College Football Playoff games would give him the ability to stay under the Turner umbrella, which includes his work with CBS and TBS for the NCAA Tournament.
Charles Barkley might not be a “football” analyst in the truest sense, but he could certainly be a Lee Corso-like figure on TNT’s studio show, putting on helmets or mascot heads and being the “fun personality” on the broadcast alongside a serious “football” guy.
Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.
Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.