It ain’t over till it’s over. Yes, an old cliche used in sports and life all the time. Today, it’s all about the financial battle to keep the TNT network – and of course our fav hoops show Inside the NBA – on your TV.
It’s been a minute since we reported about the behind-the-scenes goings-on for the rights to broadcast NBA games after the current media contracts expire at the end of the upcoming season. It seemed – at the time – that TNT (a division of the larger Warner Brothers / Discovery network system) was going to be priced out of the game by bigger players, including ESPN, NBC and even Amazon.
Well, now it seems TNT has found a way to maybe, possibly, continue with NBA coverage. Part of the current NBA TV contract allows for current participants – that would mean TNT – to match the bid of another competitor in order to retain their broadcast rights. TNT says it’s going to exercise that option, and will match Amazon’s offer to NBA coverage.
Officially we know that ESPN and NBC have put a ton of cash on the table to get involved with NBA games next season. Amazon’s deal is a little less, money-wise. Various media sources have confirmed the TNT deal is to match Amazon’s.
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The most recent statement from TNT indeed indicates they’re still in the game: “We’re proud of how we have delivered for basketball fans by providing best-in-class coverage throughout our four-decade partnership with the NBA. In an effort to continue our long-standing partnership, during both exclusive and non-exclusive negotiation periods, we acted in good faith to present strong bids that were fair to both parties.”
At the same time, TNT said it would very likely move ahead with the option to match one of the new bidders offers: “Regrettably, the league notified us of its intention to accept other offers for the games in our current rights package, leaving us to proceed under the matching rights provision, which is an integral part of our current agreement and the rights we have paid for under it. We have reviewed the offers and matched one of them.”
For NBA fans, this is a huge story, mostly over the love of “Inside the NBA,” the super-popular news and commentary program airing on TNT, and featuring our man Shaq, along with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley. Fans have been angry and sad over the potential loss of the show. TNT has been airing the NBA since 1989, and fans have been despondent about the possibility of losing the “Inside the NBA” studio show with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.
TNT knows they’ve got a great product and a huge following, and they certainly don’t want to lose any of it. Matching the Amazon offer, they say, “This will allow fans to keep enjoying our unparalleled coverage, including the best live game productions in the industry and our iconic studio shows and talent, while building on our proven 40-year commitment for many more years. Our matching paperwork was submitted to the league today. We look forward to the NBA executing our new contract.”
As for the NBA, they’re saying yes indeed, they have received the counter-offer from Warner Brothers / Discovery and they are “in the process of reviewing it.”
Even though there’s another full season to go on the current media contract, that’s not a lot of time for rival networks to get all their tech and talent ducks in a row. That’s not all… There could even be legal issues (lawsuit?) if the NBA goes against TNT’s matching offer.
And what if? What if TNT does not get to keep the rights to NBA coverage? What happens to Inside the NBA and our favorite broadcast team? A program that popular could indeed find a new home on a new network. Whoever gets the rights to NBA games in the future would be foolish to not consider moving the entire Inside team over to their network. Stay tuned!