Charles Barkley believes there's still a 50-50 chance that Warner Bros. Discovery will retain NBA rights. Inside the NBA remains a TNT staple, but that hasn't stopped the show's staff from being “scared to death” about the future.
Berkeley said in an interview. Waddle & Sylvie On Tuesday, ESPN 1000 in Chicago reported that the show's staff, as well as NBA fans, are currently in the dark, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty around the show during the NBA playoffs.
“You never know what's going to happen,” Barclay said. “We could lose it… It's absolutely brutal and everyone is scared to death.”
Charles Barkley talks about his future with TNT @NBA
“I’m worried…100%.”
Full interview: https://t.co/MqIrVh1020@waddleandsilvy @twaddle87 @tyleraki_ @Jeff_Meller pic.twitter.com/yx3zDJ6P0q
— ESPN1000 (@ESPN1000) May 14, 2024
Barkley noted that this is the first time that an exclusive negotiation period ended before TNT and the NBA agreed to a new broadcast rights deal.
“It's 50-50 that we lose our role to NBC,” Barclay said. “Am I worried? 100%, because we've been partners with the NBA for over 40 years, and you would think that if there was a close bid in a bidding war, we'd win without question, but obviously that's not the case. It’s not happening… They’re doing it. I’m scared to death here.”
Barclay appears to be alluding to recent reports that WBD CEO David Zaslav had hoped to “match” NBC's $2.8 billion offer with a $2.5 billion counter-offer, but was turned down. . If WBD doesn't hit the $2.8 billion figure and doesn't have the legal right to match Prime Video's offer, as Spotify executive and Ringer host Bill Simmons said Sunday night, This could happen.
Regardless of the business machinations, here's Berkeley's explanation of workplace energy: Inside the NBA My current Atlanta studio is pretty dark. If TNT loses the rights to the NBA, a large number of producers and technical staff will lose their jobs.
And there's still a season left before the new package starts. That means TNT could still produce the 2024-25 season of NBA games and its famous studio shows even if it loses the package.
Who can blame TNT's staff for being nervous?
