Charles Barkley went from free agency to retirement back to free agency and ultimately declared his allegiance to TNT over the past three months, as the NBA media rights negotiations became one of the biggest stories in sports.
While Barkley allegedly plans to work through the remainder of his contract with Warner Bros. Discovery, he revealed on Tuesday on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz that he gave up “a minimum of $100 million” by opting to remain at TNT.
“It was a great feeling, and I want to thank all those networks for reaching out to me,” Barkley said. “It was humbling and cool … but even though they were throwing crazy numbers, I was like, ‘damn,’ but as long as I got my people safe at TNT, I feel really good.”
Barkley acknowledged he still doesn’t fully know what his job at TNT will look like beyond next season, the last year in which the network will broadcast the NBA. Whether TNT produces a show like Inside Sports, or as Le Batard suggested, Outside the NBA, Barkley and Co. will have to reinvent themselves.
Even from a business level, elements they took for granted previously will have to be negotiated with the NBA now.
“What’s crazy, I think we’re going to have to pay for highlights,” Barkley said. “It is such a fluid situation. The thing that’s going to be interesting is we have the NBA all next year no matter what, and it’s going to be interesting what crazy ideas they come to us with going forward.”
WBD recently filed a lawsuit against the NBA after the league denied the company’s bid to match an offer from Amazon for broadcast rights starting in 2025. The league argued Amazon’s global reach and significant streaming infrastructure distinguishes it from WBD’s offerings and negates WBD’s matching rights. WBD sued the league for breach of contract. The court proceedings will take place throughout the season.
For now, Barkley is doing what he thinks is best to keep the TNT crew employed, even if that means sacrificing a 9-figure deal. But the nature of the lawsuit could change, and with it WBD’s business plans and Barkley’s future at TNT.
[The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz 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.