ESPN-ABC Will Have the Rights to Air Inside the NBA
Let the whole basketball congregation say, ‘AMEN.’ For a few months now it had been looking pretty grim for one of the most popular sports shows and casts in the history of the National Basketball Association. But it looks like there will be savior after all. Sports broadcasting giant ESPN will be stepping in with their cape to save the day. On Saturday evening, Wall Street Journal reported that moving forward ESPN-ABC will have the rights to air Inside the NBA.
Nonetheless, just to refresh your memory. The drama surrounding this fan favorite show began back in the summer. When TNT/Warner Bros. lost the rights to the NBA and the situation stirred up a lawsuit. Moreover, this ‘battle’ caused an unsure scenario for the long-running Inside the NBA show which has been around for almost 40 years.
As USA Today mentioned, “TNT – part of Warner Bros. Discovery – [would] not televise NBA games following this season because the league signed in July an 11-year, $76 billion TV deal with ABC/ESPN, NBC and Amazon. [This means] no more Ernie, Charles, Kenny and Shaq after the 2024-25 season.”
However, now the Warner Bros. Discovery’s four-month legal scuffle with the NBA has come to its conclusion. The clouds are beginning to clear. And it looks as though the TNT Sports parent company has settled its lawsuit against the NBA, and there’s some interesting details regarding the settlement.
The Wall Street Journal reveals,
“The NBA deal is expected to be announced early next week. Warner Bros. Discovery WBD has settled its breach of contract lawsuit against the National Basketball Association, an agreement that will keep the company in business with the league for at least the next decade, people familiar with the matter said.
The accord gives Warner Bros. Discovery the ability to develop new shows with NBA content in the U.S. and abroad, and international NBA rights in parts of Northern Europe and Latin America excluding Mexico and Brazil.”
ESPN-ABC Will Have the Rights to Air Inside the NBA
What about Inside the NBA? Will the people rightfully get their fix? Yes. TNT will reportedly license its flagship Inside the NBA to ESPN and ABC starting next season.
The deal will also reportedly see ESPN sublicense Big 12 college football and basketball games to WBD to air on TNT and the Max streaming service. Furthermore, all the talent will remain TNT Sports employees and can be used in other future shows or projects for Warner Bros Discovery.
So then, it looks like a crisis was avoided. Many basketball fans seriously enjoy watching Ernie, Charles, Kenny and Shaq. Fans hang out before, during and after games. For instance, last season Inside the NBA on TNT was up 4% after games. So then, this is a great show that deserved saving and we are confident many NBA fans will be happy to be able to continue to tune in and be entertained.
**Want Even More Sports, News, Hot Takes, Stats as well as Athlete Celebrity Sighting Updates; Insights as well as Trends? Well, be sure to join all of us Sports Feens over on Youtube to get an additional sports fix; and also don’t forget to check out all of our new Podcast topics and episodes. Plus, get fast highlights and trivia daily by following us on TikTok. Just Click HERE**
Thoughts on ESPN-ABC Will Have the Rights to Air Inside the NBA!? Well let’s connect then you Feen! We are always around on social media posting as well as chatting away. And we would love to hear some POV from you. Therefore, join the discussion and talk all things Sports Feen; athletics as well as breaking industry news related with us by dropping a comment or two. Get into our comment section on YT; or also hit us up on our TikTok page or tweet us @SportsFeen.
