‘Inside the NBA’ isn’t going away after all, Warner Bros. Discovery/TNT will remain involved in televised coverage of the NBA. Warner Bros. settled its lawsuit against the NBA and now the league can move forward without TV rights drama.
News of Warner Bros. licensing the rights of ‘Inside the NBA’ to ESPN broke Saturday night, and the deal ensures that the popular NBA program featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will remain on the air.
On Monday, the TNT Sports and NBA released details of the deal, which will run concurrently with the 11-year, $76 billion TV deal the NBA reached with ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon. The new TV deal begins with the 2025-26 season.
Here’s what we know about the TNT Sports/NBA TV agreement:
‘Inside the NBA’ moving to ESPN
The idea of losing ‘Inside the NBA’ when TNT Sports wasn’t part of the new deal left basketball fans with uneasy feeling. Even NBA Commissioner Adam Silver bemoaned the prospect.
However, TNT Sports worked hard behind the scenes with ESPN to create an opportunity to keep the beloved show alive.
‘The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning ‘Inside the NBA’ is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere,’ Silver said in a news release. ‘We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms.’
It is not known yet how this move will impact ESPN’s and ABC’s current pregame coverage of games.
What else is part of the TV deal between NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery?
Warner Bros. also has the rights to televise games in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, Poland and Latin America (minus Brazil and Mexico).
Bleacher Report and House of Highlights will have highlight rights and the opportunity to expand coverage of the league through digital operations. The digital partnership between the NBA and TNT Sports will continue with NBA.com and NBA League Pass.
‘Together these agreements ensure fans will continue to enjoy TNT’s Inside the NBA and create tremendous value for our entire portfolio as we accelerate the growth of TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and our global sports business,’ Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said. ‘We are pleased to partner with the NBA and Disney/ESPN, and to have solidified long-term rights and revenue for WBD.’
TNT Sports gets Big 12 football, basketball package
As part of the ‘Inside the NBA’ licensing agreement with ESPN, TNT Sports will televise 13 Big 12 football games and 15 Big 12 men’s basketball games each season, beginning in 2025. TNT, in a previous partnership with ESPN, will televise two college football playoff game, starting in December.
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