The future of Inside the NBA, TNT’s long-running and generally beloved studio has been a topic of conversation through the NBA’s media rights negotiations.
And while there are still potential lingering issues, the NBA’s rejection of Warner Bros. Discovery’s right-to-match claim seemingly means that TNT is heading into its final season covering the NBA. But does that mean Inside the NBA is in its final days? According to Jay Marine, global head of sports for Prime Video, not necessarily.
“Marine told SBJ that Amazon Prime Video used ‘Inside the NBA’ as a model for its Thursday night NFL pregame, halftime and post-game show, and — should the TNT cast of Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson become available — said, ‘Obviously, there’ll be a lot of interest, and we’ll just have to see how that plays out,’ Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reported.
“I would say, first and foremost, ‘Inside the NBA,’ we view it as the gold standard studio program,” Marine told SBJ. “We’re big fans. I’m a big fan. They are absolutely fantastic, incredibly entertaining. And collectively, that chemistry is really awesome and, to be honest, it was an inspiration for us that we pointed to when we designed our TNF pregame team….That’s what we wanted to aspire to.”
Other potential issues linger. For example, Ernie Johnson may not be willing to leave Turner. Charles Barkley also announced that the 2024-25 NBA season would be his last, even if the NBA did return to Turner.
🚨 Charles Barkley: “I ain’t going nowhere other than TNT. But, I have made the decision the myself- no matter what happens, next year is going to be my last year on television… I’m not going to another network… Next year, I’m going to just retire after 25 years.” 🚨 pic.twitter.com/E966rKo7X4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 15, 2024
Subsequent comments he’s made have made it clear that Barkley would have no interest in going to another network.
Another issue is in the potential contractual obligations of the talent.
“Barkley, O’Neal and Smith are under long-term contracts,” Friend detailed. “Barkley has said he has an out in his contract if WBD loses the NBA, but those sources indicated that was not necessarily the case and that all the contracts were unique with variables that could prohibit a switch to Amazon, NBC or Disney, the league’s three impending partners after next season.”
But, while there are definite roadblocks, it does seem as though there’s an interest in keeping Inside the NBA around. Whether that can happen is another matter.
[SportsBusinessJournal.com, Photo Credit: TNT]
