The show Inside The NBA will it disappear? It is possible since the TNT channel would be on the verge of losing the race for TV rights. The cable network competes with NBC, and according to Sports Business Journalthe Comcast subsidiary is in pole position to win the third and final lot for the new contract for NBA TV rights.
National network, unlike TNT, NBC would put on the table 2.5 billion dollars, or 27.5 billion dollars over a period of 11 years, for a show called “Basketball Night in America”, which would be the NBA version of the current show “Football Night in America”, broadcast on Sundays, on the NFL.
This would be an event since TNT has been broadcasting the NBA for… 35 years! Still according to Sports Business Journal, TNT has the possibility of matching this offer, but it would not be enough for the NBA which wishes to favor the national network for this new 11-year contract. Even if it means parting with a historic partner, carried by this show “Inside The NBA” with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith.
From 24 billion dollars in 2014 to… 80 billion dollars in 2024!
If NBC wins the bet, the lot picked up by the channel would be made up of Sunday evening matches, at the end of the NFL season, perhaps a Friday evening poster, and the current TNT offer with a part of the second round of the playoffs and the conference finals.
Ultimately, the NBA would be the big winner of this call for tenders with a contract worth around $80 billion over 11 years. This is three times more than the current contract, initialed in 2014, and which ends at the end of this season.
The ESPN/ABC duo, which belongs to Disney, would spend $2.8 billion per year to maintain its current package, which notably includes the Finals. Amazon, a new player in the sports audiovisual landscape, would offer 1.8 billion dollars per year, for the exclusivity of Saturday evening matches during the regular season, but also the NBA tournament, the play-in, and first round matches and conference semifinals. As well as a conference final.
