Dan Patrick offered a clear-eyed view of Warner Bros. Discovery likely losing NBA broadcast rights after the league declined its matching offer this week, saying that while fans are sad to see Inside the NBA go in its current form on TNT, the league is smart to think bigger.
Speaking on The Dan Patrick Show on Thursday, Patrick explained why TNT losing NBA rights actually “isn’t about TNT” at all.
“If I’m the commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, I don’t want to lose this show, but I also have to be fiscally responsible,” Patrick said. “Look, am I disappointed that we’ll lose this at TNT? Yes. But also, I have to look at this as a longer play. The commissioner’s looking at a 10-year, 11-year deal. This isn’t about TNT. This is about global. This is about streaming.”
Patrick also pointed out that Inside the NBA superstar Charles Barkley is 61 and flirted with retirement in the past. It’s unlikely he would stick around for the next 11 seasons even if WBD made a successful bid to keep the NBA on its networks.
At the same time, Patrick compared Silver’s strategy with this three-pronged media rights deal with Amazon, Disney and NBC Universal to his predecessor David Stern’s efforts to globalize the game with the 1992 Dream Team.
“Why not think, OK this is going to hurt initially, short-term. Long term, bigger picture, it makes more sense. Amazon is global, TNT is not,” Patrick said. “Charles is wonderful, so is Shaq. They’re thinking bigger picture of, ‘how can I get more people in bigger places to see our product?'”
Should the NBA and WBD work out a settlement over their matching-rights dispute, next NBA season will be the last for Inside the NBA on TNT. That’s not to mention the last year of Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller on the call together as well as countless other media personalities who broadcast the NBA on TNT.
But as Patrick notes, while it may be sad to say goodbye to a cherished product, that can be true while it is also true that the NBA made the right call.
[The Dan Patrick Show on YouTube]
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.