The NBA season ended as of Monday, so teams are now setting their sights on next week's NBA Draft. However, once the games are over, the NBA itself faces a major problem: which networks will broadcast its games after the next season.
Reports have emerged for months that the NBA has negotiated frameworks with three partners (ESPN DIS, Comcast CMCSA and amazon) for a deal worth around $76 billion over 11 years. The agreement with the three partners would exclude Warner Bros. Discovery, which broadcasts the NBA on TNT.
Related: NBC Might Bring Back the NBA, But Here's a Big Reason Viewers Won't Like It
There is also a belief that the loss of the NBA on TNT, which has broadcast the NBA since the 1989-90 season, would be the end of the beloved studio show “Inside The NBA,” starring Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith. and Charles Barkley. Johnson will remain at TNT regardless of the final outcome with the NBA, according to Sports Business Journal, while Barkley has announced that he will retire from television starting next year.
Many have questioned Barkley's retirement, but whether it's a negotiating tactic or the truth, his impending retirement is a sign of the tumultuous times at WBD. (W.B.D.) .
Despite all the reports about the NBA and its three partners, the league has yet to sign contracts with any of them. So, the door is open for the WBD.
However, a new report indicates that one of the two options for WBD to keep the NBA is now off the table.
The possibility of WBD reaching a new agreement with the NBA “is as dead as can be”
It has been reported that one way WBD could stay alive in NBA negotiations is to form a fourth package with the league.
That package would essentially take a portion of the other packages for WBD to stream some games. Front Office Sports reported that it could also include some games that would move regional partners to TNT's national audience.
Related: Remember: WBD, 'Inside The NBA' Isn't Dead Yet. This is why
However, according to Puck's John Ourand, that package “is as dead as can be” and there's only a “one percent” chance of WBD getting that deal.
The big hurdle WBD faces in creating that deal would be that its share of the games would take away from the other partners, essentially reducing the value of their deals, reigniting negotiations and potentially eliminating the additional value the NBA was able to extract from its agreements. newer partners.
More NBA media rights:
- NBA commissioner apologizes to TNT workers for job uncertainty
- Warner Bros. Discovery is in trouble after Comcast offered the NBA a big deal
- Charles Barkley calls WBD executives 'clowns' amid NBA media rights negotiations
WBD's last option is still on the table, and that is to match the package offered by amazon or Comcast.
Comcast's offer to return the NBA to NBC amounts to $2.5 billion a year, while amazon's offer amounts to $1.8 billion a year. The NBA is reportedly dangling WBD with the idea that it can't directly match Comcast's deal dollar for dollar because Comcast is offering the possibility of the league being broadcast on a traditional television network.
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