With the NBA’s exclusive negotiating window having come to an end, the league’s next media rights deal is coming into focus.
That includes the news that the league is expected to have a new media partner in Amazon, as well as NBC’s aggressive pursuit to bring the NBA back to its airwaves.
With Disney also expected to retain a part of the the league’s media rights, that has led many to speculate that Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT could be the odd man out. Appearing on The Town with Matthew Belloni this week, Bill Simmons shared his thoughts on what the NBA’s ultimate media rights deal will look like, with The Ringer founder offering an informed prediction that the league’s time on TNT is, in fact, coming to an end.
“I think it’s going to be three partners, not two. I think the reason some of the leaks have already come out, is because the deals are probably are already done or they’re on the 26th mile of the marathon,” Simmons said. “ESPN, I think they get the Finals. I think Amazon is 100 percent involved and probably with League Pass too. And then NBC/Peacock.
“And all of them are involved in the playoffs. The In-Season Tournament, maybe it rotates between the partners. And then the big piece of this and maybe this is why the stock went down, Warner Bros. is out. Warner Discovery is out. That would be the prediction.”
Simmons went on to note that if TNT is, in fact, left without a chair when the music stops, there will be no shortage of fallout, including Inside the NBA‘s uncertain future.
“If they are out, I’m sure there’s going to be some interesting stories from the negotiations that pop out. Because that would be a seismic event,” he said.
“And then on top of it, if they are out, what happens to Barkley and Kenny and all those guys? Do they end up at ESPN? Like could ESPN do what they did with Buck and Aikman just like, ‘Hey man, here’s just a shitload of money. We’ll take those guys.’ So that story’s the second piece.”
The idea of TNT — which has aired NBA games since 1989 — no longer being one of the league’s media rights partners would have seemed unfathomable a mere year ago, but now appears to be an increasingly realistic possibility. To Simmons’ point, it likely won’t be long until we learn what the NBA’s new media rights deal will ultimately look like and whether its 35-year presence on TNT will truly be coming to an end.
