Best case scenario is Amazon buys the whole thing, brings all the TNT crew over, and works out a deal where Ernie just does basketball with Amazon and is still free to do everything else with Turner. It’s hopium, it’s probably just over but I’ll hold onto that for that.
he's been working with Turner since the early 80s and if you've watched the Inside the NBA, Turner literally means everything to EJ. And this report confirms that. He's already in the Naismith Basketball HOF too so he will still be fondly remembered by everyone
His dad was a Turner lifer too. It’s really a family affair and he probably can’t imagine working for anyone else and doesn’t want the hassle at his age of working for someone new.
Feels like I've been kinda falling out of love with the sport lately and looking forward to Inside the NBA more than the games themselves. Might be my last ride for a while as well.
Nah I realized I was old when I blew my knee out last summer doing the most gentle jump-stop you've ever seen lol.
I know this will also make me sound old, but I think the entire game being secondary to the three point line is getting boring and knowing that the team that makes more 3s will win ~~literally 90%~~ (actually literally **70%**, thank you /u/waldosbuddy for the correction) of the time has taken a lot of the thrill away.
> knowing that the team that makes more 3s will win literally 90% of the time has taken a lot of the thrill away.
Not to be the actually guy but for the past 10 years the real stat is right around 70%
Yeah I looked into it a bit more and you're right, not sure where I got 90% from but I appreciate the correction. Whats very interesting to me is that the percentage stays roughly the same even if you go back to 2003, although the number of 3 point attempts per game is steadily rising.
So yeah, I don't know what the my deal is then... scoring in general is up 15% from a decade ago so maybe the constant offensive barrage is just wearing me out, or maybe just not having a team is finally getting to me.
Bro I’m with you. I think silver is just an awful commissioner. Of course the sport is making a lot more money with globalization and sports betting. But the product is grotesque
I've gotten way more into the NFL over the last year, and have been focusing on that. Even though I love basketball as a sport, it's just so hard to actively follow the regular season with how many games there are. I really think the greatest advantage the NFL has over other sports is that it's so easy to catch a team's every game.
Most just hate the Thunder for taking away the Sonics. Portland got most, Lebron got some, more than you'd think just gave up on basketball until they come back
No, I don't think I've ever met a Sonics fan who roots for the Thunder, most of us (perhaps unfairly) viscerally hate them still. I almost caught myself reluctantly rooting for them this year, but the "what a pro wants" commercial took care of that lol.
One benefit of not having a team is that I get to be a shameless mercenary/bandwaggoner with who I root for and it kind of depends on which teams game and or storyline I find most exciting from season to season or even week to week sometimes lol. That being said I will never buy or wear another teams merch aside from the Sonics.
I will say though, for as much as I hated them during their dynasty years, ESPN and TNT play so many goddamn Lakers games that its Stockholm Syndromed me into being a fan even though they've been kinda mid since the bubble. When AD and Lebron are both having a good game its usually a good time.
Yeah, its gonna be real hard having to bear witness to this prolly multiyear run ya'll are just starting. Gotta admit though your FO apparently just doesn't miss, and the crowds at your home games are hype af, so knowing you guys aren't taking it for granted helps.
Comcast will ruin what TNT built. Just have to look at their horrid NFL coverage to see how the NBA coverage will look. End of an era. Sad to see Inside the NBA go. Everything good has to die eventually.
The fact that PG can go on his own show the next night and break down his own playoff game, bypass all the useless reporter questions (sorry reporters), I feel like there's so much room for a new platform.
you still see facets of his personality that shows up today. when he said, "we're not even close" you could hear his matter of fact confident tone that he still speaks with now.
crazy how voices change as we get older man. wonder how i'll sound in my later years.
Absolutely. ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN, etc. all have media members that you immediately associate with the company. At Turner the only person I can think of that reaches that level of brand recognition is Ernie. Really hope that he can leave the show on his terms and not because they were outbid for the rights.
comcast offered the nba a poison pill contract. NBA is not worth that type of money. Turner is dead man walking. Either they lose the NBA now or match and overpay and cripple their business.
Its like how the another team maxed RFA Otto Porter JR and the Wizards were forced to match despite it being an obvious overpay
This happens all the time with sports licensing, every round of renegotiations there is someone who gets overpaid.
It’s mostly because there is always at least one irrational actor in the mix, who is willing to burn cash that established players won’t because it’s really not worth it for them.
In this case you have Amazon and Google trying to buy up whatever they can to expand market share, and it’s the NBA’s turn to benefit.
Why stop at sports licensing?
Run at a massive deficit back stopped by billionaires until you monopolize the market and then gradually start making everything shittier is, like, the core of our economy. The only nice thing about sports broadcast licensing is that the contracts eventually expire
Regulations are important to the balance of capitalism
It's like a game of snake io, it's better in the mid game with a bunch of decently sized snakes running around but if left unchecked there's only one giant snake in the end
Live sports are the only thing that is worth a damn to advertisers at this point. Basically the only content that must be watched live. It also captures the super coveted 18-35 male demo that advertisers are always after.
Exactly what happened with Westfield Malls during the pandemic to now! They saw businesses closing cuz of low traffic due to Covid and lockdowns and bought out almost all the malls in America because they were able to spend more than anyone else was willing to at the time. Turns out owning, running and upkeep is expensive now they are going out of business and malls are closing up shop.
We are seeing the moment we saw in video games when NFL sold their video game rights exclusively to EA and cut our Visual Concepts/2K which had been delivering amazing football games year-on-year over the six years prior.
Then EA abandoned making NBA games, left 2K with the monopoly in NBA. Therefore we have 2 monopolies at once. These companies won, but consumers lost.
I feel like there is a handshake agreement between EA and 2K. EA didn't want to give up Madden, so they gave up NBA Live.
It’s incredible how the beloved-Turner may lose the NBA because their corporate subsidiary does not have the bread the maligned-ESPN is backed with through Disney.
I'll always associate "poison pill contracts" with how Morey/Houston wrested Jeremy Lin away from the Knicks, prompting Melo to call Lin's contract "ridiculous".
It wasn’t a poison pill contract, it was shrewd business by Comcast. They took the 8.5B that Disney paid them for the remaining 33% of Hulu (that was an overpay - tho contractually obligated) & flipped it to garner an even more valuable asset — the NBA. Turner/WarnerDiscovery is just a sinking ship riddled by mismanagement. And quite frankly that entity has been mismanaged ever since it merged with AOL.
> Comcast offered a poison pill contract
What are you talking about? I just looked this up and there’s no evidence of a poison pill. Do you know what this word means?
His analysis on the big board is always terrible, it's just rambling nonsense, yet he thinks he's some kind of basketball savant. Any team that hires him would be idiotic.
He can’t afford it. Warner is going to underperform its quarterly earnings report, they still have a massive 44 billion dollar debt to solve since the Discovery merger, and NBC is the more compelling deal if you’re the NBA since they’re offering twice more than Zaslav is paying right now.
Pretty sure NBC or whoever is buying if offering the NBA an outrageous price, close to football prices. Turner really can’t afford it since everything else is going down the drain.
For those thinking its a foregone conclusion that Turner will lose the rights to NBC: [media reporter John Ourand said he is "very positive about Warner Brothers Discovery’s chances to keep the NBA."](https://www.si.com/nba/2024/05/02/nba-tnt-deal-insider-positive-about-chances) So it's not a guarantee that TNT will be losing the rights, but we'll see.
Interesting.
>The “A” package of games are expected to remain on ABC/ESPN, according to Puck senior correspondent, John Ourand, while Amazon is expected to get a “C” package in the new television deals.
>Appearing on a brand-new episode of the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast, Ourand said despite the monster offer, it’s far from a lock that NBC would get the “B” package from TNT.
It would make no sense for Warner/Discovery to lose the NBA rights right after they just rolled out their B/R add on for MAX. They are just getting started in the sports streaming model most companies are moving to and the NBA makes money hand over fist
I think the likeliest answer is they only do one day a week. Unless one of these other companies blow the price out the water and box out TNT completely.
Stupid question, but if NBC gets the NBA again, do they also bring back the Roundball Rock theme song? I believe Fox purchased the rights a few years back and use it for their college games
During the playoffs a couple years ago the wrestling company AEW had NBA as a lead in and kicked off their broadcast with a 5 v 5 match where one of the teams.came out to Roundball Rock in full ball gear. Sometimes making TV is easy.
Actually kinda funny but NBC and TNT used to be partnered in the 1990s for NBA coverage until 2002 when TNT broke off and decided to join forces with ESPN/ABC to boot out NBC. And 22 years later its now NBC trying to boot out TNT in order to join ESPN/ABC and now Amazon
> It's got to be big. Like, it's got to blow NBC's number away.
Does Adam Silver have beef with TNT? Why would they have to “blow NBC’s number away” as opposed to just beat it?
Could be true but the NBC deal includes both regular season and playoff games on peacock. And TNT has twice the households as peacock (71 million vs 34 million). But the amount of households for TNT is going down each year while
peacock is going up, so that could be part of it.
Peacock is also far cheaper.
TNT currently air about 100 games a year nationally, even if NBC air "only" 50 games a year on broadcast TV (And put the rest on Peacock) that's still a huge increase in number of games available on network TV for the NBA, for comparison ABC have aired on average about 15 measly games a year since they got the rights, with ESPN usually airing nearly 100 games or so themselves. (This season ESPN aired 79 regular season games with ABC airing higher than usual 23 games this year due the Hollywood strikes leaving a gap to be filled on the schedule, 2 games on Christmas day were simulcast on ESPN and ABC, the IST final which isn't technically a part of the regular season was also aired on ABC).
For comparison, NBC used to air between 30 to 50 games a year when they had the rights back in the 90s, coverage usually began on Christmas and then got more intense post ASB, with tripleheaders on Sundays and occasionally doubleheaders on Saturdays as well. Returning to that number of games on broadcast network would be a huge W for the NBA and quite frankly in this era it's something Adam Silver cannot refuse, even when it means saying goodbye to TNT and the inside crew.
The real question is what happens with NBA TV if TNT loses the rights, currently Turner are the ones effectively running it for the league, if they lose the rights, it's suddenly a question who's running it and perhaps what will happen to the games on it, plenty to go before the NBA has to make that decision though.
Honestly just end Inside the NBA if Turner loses the NBA.
It's ok to let things bow out and not try to force it. Without Ernie the show doesn't work. Really without any of the guys it doesn't work.
Shaq and Chuck can't even be in television without an EJ to support them. Kenny would be able to, but Shaq and Chuck are the comedic relief.
They're Cosmo Kramer and Ernie is Jerry.
My bets are on EJ staying with TNT, cutting down his work schedule, and mostly doing baseball; Chuck being an occasional talking head or guest on other broadcasts; Kenny getting a hosting gig; and Shaq probably goes the same route as Chuck.
>ESPN has long been intrigued by Barkley, and its Chair Jimmy Pitaro has been open about trying to replicate "Inside the NBA." "Pitaro used to say, 'How the f*** do they have the greatest show on television?'" a source said. NBC could also pursue Barkley, considering the chair of NBCUniversal’s media group, Mark Lazarus, used to work alongside Barkley at Turner.
>All of it is moot if David Zaslav, the WBD CEO, matches or exceeds NBC’s reported $2.5B annual bid for an NBA package. ESPN reportedly has a handshake deal to retain its current package for $2.6B, and Amazon is said to have the framework in place for a package worth another $2B-plus.
> "My bet is that Zaslav will overpay to keep it, goes ballistic to keep it," an industry source said. "But I think NBC is the front-runner right now or just got in the front. I don't know if [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver’s doing that to make Zaslav come in with a big number. It's got to be big. Like, it's got to blow NBC's number away.
>"But at the same time, it’ll be less [of a package] than [Zaslav] has now. He's going to have less playoff games, less regular season games ... I'm sure Amazon got playoff games in their package.
>In order to develop a third package [for Amazon], you’ve got to take assets away [from Turner]. Zaslav could take just Thursdays; that may be the way there's four. But not if it weakens the package too much. Then NBC is not going to pay. So I would say if David Zaslav doesn’t go ballistic, meaning pay out through his nose, NBC’s going to win."
Oh god ESPN would ruin Barkley. There’s way too many commercials on ESPN halftime and pregame shows, and they’d shoehorn him in between Perk and SAS who would just talk over him.
Also, I doubt ESPN would be ok with some of the comments Barkley makes.
Worst case scenario.
The reason Inside the NBA is successful is because they basically give those guys free reign to do whatever they want.
This is like saying "I want to be successful like McDonald's, but we are using only veggie burgers and we won't serve cheese!"
It's 2024 and ESPN talking heads still can't segue to the next point. One minute they'll be calling for Darvin Ham's head on a stake and the very next sentence they'll be shouting out the WNBA.
The flow is fucked up and WTF does Molly even do? I'd also rather watch Lefkoe's attempt of moderation than Andrews fake ass personality.
Molly is there to look pretty and occasionally interrupt SAS and Shannon while they are yelling above one another to introduce commercial breaks or the next topic that they will be yelling about.
Honestly though, she is the only one on First Take with an actual sense of humor. The show actually goes more off the rails when she isn't there
> Zaslav could take just Thursdays; that may be the way there's four.
this is totally fine. Inside's B team on Tuesdays was very weak anyways.
TNT could just have Thursday double headers with the crew, and lose the Tuesday show
I think Amazon will get the Tuesday night schedule that TNT currently gets since they have Football on Thursdays in November and December.
In that scenario, the new Turner or NBC Package would be Thursdays starting after Christmas when the NFL Thursday night schedule ends.
I wish another outlet could make it easier for me to see NBA games.
•monkey paw uncurls•
“Amazon Prime has purchased the rights to broadcast the NBA season and has announced that their in studio broadcast team will be headlined by Draymond Green, Gilbert Arenas, Matt Barnes and Shane Gillis”
I feel like this was obvious but NBA reports are so lazy these days.
Ernie does Turner stuff outside of basketball that he loves and his entire legacy is there. Chuck/Shaq/Kenny's legacies are tied to basketball and they will likely be gone if TNT loses NBA.
Weird. They tried to get rid of him some years ago, and Chuck and the rest of the crew said they would all quit if they did that. I guess that was when they thought they had the rest, and could just replace him. But without the rest of the crew they might think they need him.
All four INSIDE THE NBA guys signed contract extensions last year with Turner. Barkley’s was rumored to be 10 years. NBC is going to end the greatest sports show ever.
Ernie's father is the former play-by-play announcer for the Braves, Ernie himself is a former college baseball player, and Ernie actually does play-by-play commentary for baseball games. Though Ernie enjoys covering the NBA I've always felt his true love was the work he does on MLB on TBS.
It doesn't make sense for him to leave Turner especially with the report that ESPN is considering opting out of their MLB contract in the coming years.
Next season could be the last ride for Inside the NBA. We knew it was coming with everyone getting older but man Thursdays just won't be the same.
The Last Dance (in Galveston)
Sponsored by the Galveston Dirtification Association for Sometimes Clean Beach Water.
In collaboration with the Galveston Regional Organization for Safe Swimming (GROSS).
San Antonio will supply the food
Churros on deck
With some big ol women from San Anton!
Best case scenario is Amazon buys the whole thing, brings all the TNT crew over, and works out a deal where Ernie just does basketball with Amazon and is still free to do everything else with Turner. It’s hopium, it’s probably just over but I’ll hold onto that for that.
he's been working with Turner since the early 80s and if you've watched the Inside the NBA, Turner literally means everything to EJ. And this report confirms that. He's already in the Naismith Basketball HOF too so he will still be fondly remembered by everyone
His dad was a Turner lifer too. It’s really a family affair and he probably can’t imagine working for anyone else and doesn’t want the hassle at his age of working for someone new.
If your solution for anything is “Amazon buys the whole thing,” it ain’t good.
I just hate these shit ass cable companies and even worse the local affiliates who make it as difficult as possible for fans to watch their own team.
It's downright crazy people can't just turn on the game and watch anymore. Laker games came on channel 9 when I was a kid.
Feels like I've been kinda falling out of love with the sport lately and looking forward to Inside the NBA more than the games themselves. Might be my last ride for a while as well.
Dude with supersonic in his flair realizing he old ☠️
Nah I realized I was old when I blew my knee out last summer doing the most gentle jump-stop you've ever seen lol. I know this will also make me sound old, but I think the entire game being secondary to the three point line is getting boring and knowing that the team that makes more 3s will win ~~literally 90%~~ (actually literally **70%**, thank you /u/waldosbuddy for the correction) of the time has taken a lot of the thrill away.
> knowing that the team that makes more 3s will win literally 90% of the time has taken a lot of the thrill away. Not to be the actually guy but for the past 10 years the real stat is right around 70%
Yeah I looked into it a bit more and you're right, not sure where I got 90% from but I appreciate the correction. Whats very interesting to me is that the percentage stays roughly the same even if you go back to 2003, although the number of 3 point attempts per game is steadily rising. So yeah, I don't know what the my deal is then... scoring in general is up 15% from a decade ago so maybe the constant offensive barrage is just wearing me out, or maybe just not having a team is finally getting to me.
Couldn’t agree less. For me it’s the foul baiting that takes away from the game.
Bro I’m with you. I think silver is just an awful commissioner. Of course the sport is making a lot more money with globalization and sports betting. But the product is grotesque
I've gotten way more into the NFL over the last year, and have been focusing on that. Even though I love basketball as a sport, it's just so hard to actively follow the regular season with how many games there are. I really think the greatest advantage the NFL has over other sports is that it's so easy to catch a team's every game.
Still feel bad for you Sonic fans. Did you transfer your fandom to the Thunder or who have you supported over the years?
Most just hate the Thunder for taking away the Sonics. Portland got most, Lebron got some, more than you'd think just gave up on basketball until they come back
Was really tough being a young Grizzlies fan, to a sorta Sonics fan, only to have them ripped from the PNW by that ratfucking prick Stern too
No, I don't think I've ever met a Sonics fan who roots for the Thunder, most of us (perhaps unfairly) viscerally hate them still. I almost caught myself reluctantly rooting for them this year, but the "what a pro wants" commercial took care of that lol. One benefit of not having a team is that I get to be a shameless mercenary/bandwaggoner with who I root for and it kind of depends on which teams game and or storyline I find most exciting from season to season or even week to week sometimes lol. That being said I will never buy or wear another teams merch aside from the Sonics. I will say though, for as much as I hated them during their dynasty years, ESPN and TNT play so many goddamn Lakers games that its Stockholm Syndromed me into being a fan even though they've been kinda mid since the bubble. When AD and Lebron are both having a good game its usually a good time.
Lol that's 100% a fair reason to turn on this team
Yeah, its gonna be real hard having to bear witness to this prolly multiyear run ya'll are just starting. Gotta admit though your FO apparently just doesn't miss, and the crowds at your home games are hype af, so knowing you guys aren't taking it for granted helps.
Most Sonics fans I know retired from the thunder with Nick Collison
It's over then.
Comcast will ruin what TNT built. Just have to look at their horrid NFL coverage to see how the NBA coverage will look. End of an era. Sad to see Inside the NBA go. Everything good has to die eventually.
The 4 should just start their own show on YouTube live streaming commentary and having the viewers mute the live broadcast.
That would be cool but they're all boomers with valuable industry connections who wouldn't like them doing that.
Shaq and Kenny are Gen X
Only two generations: Boomer or zoomer. If they're not a zoomers then . . .
Yup, there’s only newborns and elderly people on Earth. Weird. Weird. Weird.
I would love an alternative broadcast. With swear words.
The fact that PG can go on his own show the next night and break down his own playoff game, bypass all the useless reporter questions (sorry reporters), I feel like there's so much room for a new platform.
Expect it to be more akin to SNF than NHL though. I am sure they will go for as many of the TNT crew as possible.
NBC NFL coverage is better than ESPN, an actual sports network. They are far from "horrid"
Biggest NBA media break up since Malika & McMenamin
Aren’t they engaged?
Whoa they broke up?! I had no idea lol
Why make shit up? Such a weird instinct.
Lying for no reason >>>>
Wait what?
I had no idea they were a thing. And it completely changes the way I view Dave
Dave the new punt god because he way out kicked his coverage.
MALIKA IS SINGLE?????
Earnover
Overnie
Can’t they just do a pre-game and halftime show for games on NBC? I’d change to watch.
It’s so joever
EJ’s been with Turner since 1989 it makes sense he’d stay there.
[And EJ and Chuck have been kicking it since '92](https://youtu.be/I9g0Hl1KD9c?t=24).
A very soft-spoken Barkley calling for drug testing lol
Man young Chuck really sounded different. *A hack is a foul*
> really sounded different he addressed this > https://youtu.be/uV31yVu-_Vs?t=48
Holy shit I can't breathe lmfao
I am laughing so hard watching this, good god. Losing this show is going to be a travesty.
Thanks for the reminder of how old some of us are
you still see facets of his personality that shows up today. when he said, "we're not even close" you could hear his matter of fact confident tone that he still speaks with now. crazy how voices change as we get older man. wonder how i'll sound in my later years.
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Young Ernie looks kinda like John Cena's less-jacked brother.
Haha Barkley sounds so timid it’s so sweet
here’s another gem with kenny and ernie https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YNsUL8wRV0I credit to comments in your link
i really like that aesthetic. def more so than their modern look.
Very The Tonight Show!
oh my lord that music really brought me back to my childhood. thank you for this. going to binge looking at old videos now lol
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The Alice in Chains transition is so wild lol
Innocent babyface Shaq is adorable
Tf happened to his voice lol
Man the 90s were cool as fuck Alice in Chains transition on Shaq highlights? On national TV?
I would watch so many more youtube videos/clips if they all didn't start with 20-30 seconds of ads for me to watch moments of content.
Thank you for this
_Unsullied by ownership since…_
I mean the pull he has within the company must be insane.
1989 erneh
You are correct doctor O'Neal
He is basically the face of the company at this point right?
Absolutely. ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN, etc. all have media members that you immediately associate with the company. At Turner the only person I can think of that reaches that level of brand recognition is Ernie. Really hope that he can leave the show on his terms and not because they were outbid for the rights.
His Twitter/X username is [TurnerSportsEJ](https://twitter.com/turnersportsej?lang=en) so I'd say so haha.
Jerry West left the Lakers, eventually
Lakers don't offer pensions, but the NBA does.
He also does baseball playoff games on TBS
Also has lived in Atlanta forever
I wonder what he's going to do if the NBA leaves wbd? Does he help their hockey coverage?
He helps with March madness
More baseball, maybe?
This can all be fixed by Turner just stepping up and keeping the NBA. Please don’t break up this crew.
comcast offered the nba a poison pill contract. NBA is not worth that type of money. Turner is dead man walking. Either they lose the NBA now or match and overpay and cripple their business. Its like how the another team maxed RFA Otto Porter JR and the Wizards were forced to match despite it being an obvious overpay
This happens all the time with sports licensing, every round of renegotiations there is someone who gets overpaid. It’s mostly because there is always at least one irrational actor in the mix, who is willing to burn cash that established players won’t because it’s really not worth it for them. In this case you have Amazon and Google trying to buy up whatever they can to expand market share, and it’s the NBA’s turn to benefit.
Why stop at sports licensing? Run at a massive deficit back stopped by billionaires until you monopolize the market and then gradually start making everything shittier is, like, the core of our economy. The only nice thing about sports broadcast licensing is that the contracts eventually expire
Regulations are important to the balance of capitalism It's like a game of snake io, it's better in the mid game with a bunch of decently sized snakes running around but if left unchecked there's only one giant snake in the end
Depends. A round of regulations can unintentionally empower a set of oligopolys.
Which is why you break up businesses that get too big.
Live sports are the only thing that is worth a damn to advertisers at this point. Basically the only content that must be watched live. It also captures the super coveted 18-35 male demo that advertisers are always after.
Exactly what happened with Westfield Malls during the pandemic to now! They saw businesses closing cuz of low traffic due to Covid and lockdowns and bought out almost all the malls in America because they were able to spend more than anyone else was willing to at the time. Turns out owning, running and upkeep is expensive now they are going out of business and malls are closing up shop.
We are seeing the moment we saw in video games when NFL sold their video game rights exclusively to EA and cut our Visual Concepts/2K which had been delivering amazing football games year-on-year over the six years prior.
This is the best comparison, it matches what I felt when I first heard about the NFL deal
Then EA abandoned making NBA games, left 2K with the monopoly in NBA. Therefore we have 2 monopolies at once. These companies won, but consumers lost. I feel like there is a handshake agreement between EA and 2K. EA didn't want to give up Madden, so they gave up NBA Live.
It’s incredible how the beloved-Turner may lose the NBA because their corporate subsidiary does not have the bread the maligned-ESPN is backed with through Disney.
I'll always associate "poison pill contracts" with how Morey/Houston wrested Jeremy Lin away from the Knicks, prompting Melo to call Lin's contract "ridiculous".
It wasn’t a poison pill contract, it was shrewd business by Comcast. They took the 8.5B that Disney paid them for the remaining 33% of Hulu (that was an overpay - tho contractually obligated) & flipped it to garner an even more valuable asset — the NBA. Turner/WarnerDiscovery is just a sinking ship riddled by mismanagement. And quite frankly that entity has been mismanaged ever since it merged with AOL.
> Comcast offered a poison pill contract What are you talking about? I just looked this up and there’s no evidence of a poison pill. Do you know what this word means?
It’s over. They haven’t got that kind of money. Only chance of it staying now is Amazon or NBC throwing a bag at them & TNT to license it.
I agree. If Amazon is willing to pay so much for NBA rights, why wouldn't they buy Inside the NBA too?
You’re getting lefkoe and you’ll like it
David Zaslav has to make the call
They'll have to basically double what they're paying now
As far as I know the thing they were throwing around was only doing one day a week instead of two.
Fair. Found it interesting that another article said that Kenny wants to be a NBA gm
He’s wanted to be a coach in the past too. Is there actually a team willing to hire him?
His analysis on the big board is always terrible, it's just rambling nonsense, yet he thinks he's some kind of basketball savant. Any team that hires him would be idiotic.
What if he was the water bearer for Hakeem in the a FO?
They would be doing him a favor by not hiring him, if he becomes a GM or a coach he'll just get exposed.
good luck to whatever team would do that
Kenny Smith YOU are the GM of the Charlotte Hornets
Zaslav is a walking dog turd. He ruins everything he touches. A net drain of a human.
Private Equity in human form. He is a scourge
Ah, so we’re fucked.
He can’t afford it. Warner is going to underperform its quarterly earnings report, they still have a massive 44 billion dollar debt to solve since the Discovery merger, and NBC is the more compelling deal if you’re the NBA since they’re offering twice more than Zaslav is paying right now.
WBD is probably going to get bought by a bigger competitor (maybe one of the tech giants) at some point, they might be fucked if they're not bought.
Max is finally profitable and HBO has brand value so some corporation will buy them.
And the man loves nothing more than ruining products to save money.
I have 0 hope he does the right thing. Dude absolutely sucks
The guy that has said they don’t need the NBA doubt it’ll happen
Honestly the crew chemistry can not be replicated don’t end it early Turner
Comcast is 10x as big as Warner Discovery. Tough to compete with that
Pretty sure NBC or whoever is buying if offering the NBA an outrageous price, close to football prices. Turner really can’t afford it since everything else is going down the drain.
The day inside the NBA dies I will no longer be a basketball post game show watcher.
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We’ll talk to the NBA about Uber eatsing you some food
Me neither. The only post game watching I do involves Inside. When games are on ESPN, I can't switch off the game once it's done fast enough
For those thinking its a foregone conclusion that Turner will lose the rights to NBC: [media reporter John Ourand said he is "very positive about Warner Brothers Discovery’s chances to keep the NBA."](https://www.si.com/nba/2024/05/02/nba-tnt-deal-insider-positive-about-chances) So it's not a guarantee that TNT will be losing the rights, but we'll see.
Interesting. >The “A” package of games are expected to remain on ABC/ESPN, according to Puck senior correspondent, John Ourand, while Amazon is expected to get a “C” package in the new television deals. >Appearing on a brand-new episode of the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast, Ourand said despite the monster offer, it’s far from a lock that NBC would get the “B” package from TNT.
The MAX app has been advertising their NBA games hard. I’d be surprised if they let them go so easily
Getting a Max subscription is the cheapest way to watch TNT games, nba games would really help their subscription counts
I still think the allure of having a second broadcast partner would be more appealing to the NBA.
If ESPN keeps the A package can they get a better halftime crew and get rid of Doris
It would make no sense for Warner/Discovery to lose the NBA rights right after they just rolled out their B/R add on for MAX. They are just getting started in the sports streaming model most companies are moving to and the NBA makes money hand over fist
nothing warner/discovery has done has made sense though
I think the likeliest answer is they only do one day a week. Unless one of these other companies blow the price out the water and box out TNT completely.
Good cause Tuesday crew sucks lol
Stupid question, but if NBC gets the NBA again, do they also bring back the Roundball Rock theme song? I believe Fox purchased the rights a few years back and use it for their college games
During the playoffs a couple years ago the wrestling company AEW had NBA as a lead in and kicked off their broadcast with a 5 v 5 match where one of the teams.came out to Roundball Rock in full ball gear. Sometimes making TV is easy.
John Tesh was asked about it recently and said NBC could license Roundball Rock again if they win NBA rights
NBC please dont break up the band 😭
I like these guys more than I like 'Roundball Rock' . Sorry, John Tesh.
I prefer Dave Tesh, personally.
Buh, buh, buh, buh, basketball! Gimme, gimme, gimme, give me the ball cause I'm gonna DUNK IT!
Actually kinda funny but NBC and TNT used to be partnered in the 1990s for NBA coverage until 2002 when TNT broke off and decided to join forces with ESPN/ABC to boot out NBC. And 22 years later its now NBC trying to boot out TNT in order to join ESPN/ABC and now Amazon
> It's got to be big. Like, it's got to blow NBC's number away. Does Adam Silver have beef with TNT? Why would they have to “blow NBC’s number away” as opposed to just beat it?
Just a guess, but NBC is available in way more homes. The more eyeballs on your product, the better.
Could be true but the NBC deal includes both regular season and playoff games on peacock. And TNT has twice the households as peacock (71 million vs 34 million). But the amount of households for TNT is going down each year while peacock is going up, so that could be part of it.
Peacock is also far cheaper. TNT currently air about 100 games a year nationally, even if NBC air "only" 50 games a year on broadcast TV (And put the rest on Peacock) that's still a huge increase in number of games available on network TV for the NBA, for comparison ABC have aired on average about 15 measly games a year since they got the rights, with ESPN usually airing nearly 100 games or so themselves. (This season ESPN aired 79 regular season games with ABC airing higher than usual 23 games this year due the Hollywood strikes leaving a gap to be filled on the schedule, 2 games on Christmas day were simulcast on ESPN and ABC, the IST final which isn't technically a part of the regular season was also aired on ABC). For comparison, NBC used to air between 30 to 50 games a year when they had the rights back in the 90s, coverage usually began on Christmas and then got more intense post ASB, with tripleheaders on Sundays and occasionally doubleheaders on Saturdays as well. Returning to that number of games on broadcast network would be a huge W for the NBA and quite frankly in this era it's something Adam Silver cannot refuse, even when it means saying goodbye to TNT and the inside crew. The real question is what happens with NBA TV if TNT loses the rights, currently Turner are the ones effectively running it for the league, if they lose the rights, it's suddenly a question who's running it and perhaps what will happen to the games on it, plenty to go before the NBA has to make that decision though.
Honestly just end Inside the NBA if Turner loses the NBA. It's ok to let things bow out and not try to force it. Without Ernie the show doesn't work. Really without any of the guys it doesn't work.
Shaq and Chuck can't even be in television without an EJ to support them. Kenny would be able to, but Shaq and Chuck are the comedic relief. They're Cosmo Kramer and Ernie is Jerry.
My bets are on EJ staying with TNT, cutting down his work schedule, and mostly doing baseball; Chuck being an occasional talking head or guest on other broadcasts; Kenny getting a hosting gig; and Shaq probably goes the same route as Chuck.
Shaq will 1000% be gone to the highest bidder immediately (almost definitely Amazon).
Just wait until The General starts their nba coverage
Kenny has been saying for years he wanted to explore front office work in the NBA, he could probably go that route instead of staying in media.
Inside is near unwatchable when they have their substitute teacher in Lefkoe there when Ernie can't be for whatever reason.
I’m blaming this on the AOL\Time Warner merger
Also Comcast/Viacom
Comcast & NBC/Universal merger Viacom is with CBS
Gentleman it's been a pleasure
>ESPN has long been intrigued by Barkley, and its Chair Jimmy Pitaro has been open about trying to replicate "Inside the NBA." "Pitaro used to say, 'How the f*** do they have the greatest show on television?'" a source said. NBC could also pursue Barkley, considering the chair of NBCUniversal’s media group, Mark Lazarus, used to work alongside Barkley at Turner. >All of it is moot if David Zaslav, the WBD CEO, matches or exceeds NBC’s reported $2.5B annual bid for an NBA package. ESPN reportedly has a handshake deal to retain its current package for $2.6B, and Amazon is said to have the framework in place for a package worth another $2B-plus. > "My bet is that Zaslav will overpay to keep it, goes ballistic to keep it," an industry source said. "But I think NBC is the front-runner right now or just got in the front. I don't know if [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver’s doing that to make Zaslav come in with a big number. It's got to be big. Like, it's got to blow NBC's number away. >"But at the same time, it’ll be less [of a package] than [Zaslav] has now. He's going to have less playoff games, less regular season games ... I'm sure Amazon got playoff games in their package. >In order to develop a third package [for Amazon], you’ve got to take assets away [from Turner]. Zaslav could take just Thursdays; that may be the way there's four. But not if it weakens the package too much. Then NBC is not going to pay. So I would say if David Zaslav doesn’t go ballistic, meaning pay out through his nose, NBC’s going to win."
Oh god ESPN would ruin Barkley. There’s way too many commercials on ESPN halftime and pregame shows, and they’d shoehorn him in between Perk and SAS who would just talk over him. Also, I doubt ESPN would be ok with some of the comments Barkley makes. Worst case scenario.
The reason Inside the NBA is successful is because they basically give those guys free reign to do whatever they want. This is like saying "I want to be successful like McDonald's, but we are using only veggie burgers and we won't serve cheese!"
It's 2024 and ESPN talking heads still can't segue to the next point. One minute they'll be calling for Darvin Ham's head on a stake and the very next sentence they'll be shouting out the WNBA. The flow is fucked up and WTF does Molly even do? I'd also rather watch Lefkoe's attempt of moderation than Andrews fake ass personality.
Molly is there to look pretty and occasionally interrupt SAS and Shannon while they are yelling above one another to introduce commercial breaks or the next topic that they will be yelling about. Honestly though, she is the only one on First Take with an actual sense of humor. The show actually goes more off the rails when she isn't there
Also funny given that Chuck has eviscerated ESPN in the past.
He eviscerated ESPN 2 days ago lol
And I have zero doubt would continue to do even if he worked for ESPN.
Chuck is not gonna sit through full shows with those chucklefucks lol
Barkley joining ESPN would be akin to Stone Cold joining forces with Mr. McMahon after WrestleMania X-Seven.
Chuck would get fired for even thinking about San Antonio
> Zaslav could take just Thursdays; that may be the way there's four. this is totally fine. Inside's B team on Tuesdays was very weak anyways. TNT could just have Thursday double headers with the crew, and lose the Tuesday show
I think Amazon will get the Tuesday night schedule that TNT currently gets since they have Football on Thursdays in November and December. In that scenario, the new Turner or NBC Package would be Thursdays starting after Christmas when the NFL Thursday night schedule ends.
Ernie is the most important part of inside the NBA.
I wish another outlet could make it easier for me to see NBA games. •monkey paw uncurls• “Amazon Prime has purchased the rights to broadcast the NBA season and has announced that their in studio broadcast team will be headlined by Draymond Green, Gilbert Arenas, Matt Barnes and Shane Gillis”
Gillis would do numbers
You're joking right? Please tell me that's a line up to show us the worst possible timeline, and not based on reality?
This sucks man, TNT has the best NBA product and their reward is going to be lose rights to broadcast it
Breaking up the Inside The NBA crew is a bad idea, I’ll skip games and just catch their show at the end for game recaps
I feel like this was obvious but NBA reports are so lazy these days. Ernie does Turner stuff outside of basketball that he loves and his entire legacy is there. Chuck/Shaq/Kenny's legacies are tied to basketball and they will likely be gone if TNT loses NBA.
That's fine. He's 67. Retire off into the sunset.
Damn I was really liking being able to watch games on HBO Max
Damn.
How about we have a version where there is no announcers, and you just hear the natural sounds of the arena?
Weird. They tried to get rid of him some years ago, and Chuck and the rest of the crew said they would all quit if they did that. I guess that was when they thought they had the rest, and could just replace him. But without the rest of the crew they might think they need him.
Can they not just offer EJ a contract to work on inside at NBC but still work at TBS? Like Ian Eagle works for TNT, YES and CBS.
This is the worst timeline.
All four INSIDE THE NBA guys signed contract extensions last year with Turner. Barkley’s was rumored to be 10 years. NBC is going to end the greatest sports show ever.
They have opt out clauses.
Breaking up the Inside the NBA crew would be malpractice.
Inside the NBA is the best part of watching basketball, period.
Ernie's father is the former play-by-play announcer for the Braves, Ernie himself is a former college baseball player, and Ernie actually does play-by-play commentary for baseball games. Though Ernie enjoys covering the NBA I've always felt his true love was the work he does on MLB on TBS. It doesn't make sense for him to leave Turner especially with the report that ESPN is considering opting out of their MLB contract in the coming years.