NBA, Warner Bros. Discovery settle lawsuit ink deals sending ‘Inside the NBA’ to ESPN
NBA, Warner Bros. Discovery settle lawsuit ink deals sending ‘Inside the NBA’ to ESPN
Live games will move off TNT in 2025, but a creative settlement allows WBD to save some face.
The NBA has one less headache on its plate. The league has agreed to a settlement deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, putting an end to a desperate effort by the company to keep its hands on a package of live NBA games past the end of the 2024-25 season. Those games are officially moving on to Amazon’s streaming service Prime Video, but WBD did win a few concessions in the settlement, and as part of another deal have made an arrangement to keep the beloved “Inside the NBA” studio show alive.
Key Details:
- WBD will continue to distribute NBA games in areas like Latin America and Northern Europe.
- “Inside the NBA” will be licensed to ABC and ESPN in a separate deal.
- WBD will get the rights to some Big 12 college football and basketball games in that agreement.
The deal between the NBA and WBD to end the media company’s lawsuit will allow for extensive NBA highlights and content to continue being shown via the House of Highlights and Bleacher Report outlets. WBD will also be able to continue distributing NBA games in territories like Latin America and Northern Europe, with the exceptions of certain areas like Brazil and Mexico.
That revised deal will run for 11 years, the same term as the NBA’s next broadcast pacts with ESPN and ABC, NBC and Peacock, and Prime Video. The Streamable suspected WBD’s lawsuit was more about seeking a settlement with the Association than about actually trying to win back a package of live games, and now that supposition has come to fruition.
“The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning Inside the NBA is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms.”
In a separate deal, WBD has agreed to an arrangement with ESPN that will allow “Inside the NBA” to live on past this season. The show’s rights will be licensed to ABC and ESPN much like the “Pat McAfee Show,” allowing for TNT to keep complete editorial control of the show. Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson Jr. will all remain TNT employees, fulfilling a promise from Sir Charles to never work for ESPN in his career.
“This is a win-win scenario for fans,” one source told Front Office Sports about the deal. “The best sports show on TV survives. The Chuckster gets to say whatever the hell he wants. And ESPN finally gets their hands on Barkley and ‘Inside the NBA.’”
In exchange for those “Inside the NBA” rights, WBD will be licensed a package of Big 12 college football and basketball. WBD has made a concerted effort to pursue more sports rights to supplant NBA games if they should leave TNT, including some College Football Playoff games, football from the Mountain West, Big East basketball starting in 2025, and more.
“Together these agreements ensure fans will continue to enjoy TNT’s Inside the NBA and create tremendous value for our entire portfolio as we accelerate the growth of TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and our global sports business,” WBD CEO David Zaslav said. “We are pleased to partner with the NBA and Disney/ESPN, and to have solidified long-term rights and revenue for WBD.”
The settlement is a desperately needed face-saving move from Zaslav, who wantonly boasted his company didn’t “have to have the NBA” in 2022, only to resort to a lawsuit to try to keep it in the end. Now, the company gets to continue calling itself an NBA partner and will keep “Inside the NBA” alive, albeit on a new network.
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