With news coming down earlier today the NBA would soon be formalizing deals with ESPN, NBC and Amazon for its media rights after next season, the immediate thought for a lot of NBA fans is more about who is not part of group. That would be TNT, who has had a 40-year history with the league and is also home to the incredibly popular Inside the NBA show led by Ernie Johnson and featuring Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith. Former Marlins president and sports business expert David Samson, who hosts the Nothing Personal with David Samson podcast, joined The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz to talk about the show’s future.
Le Batard began reading the breaking news story from the Sports Business Journal as he brought David Samson in to the conversation. “The best sports studio show there’s ever been, Charles Barkley won another Emmy last night as he always does as part of that show,” Le Batard said. “It would appear that one of the most popular shows in the history of television, not just in sports television, it’s the most popular studio show in the history of sports television. But it ends, right David? How does it get saved? It means next season will be the last, not this season, you’ll get one more year of it. But is there anything that rescues that?”
“Well, you love the people not the show,” Samson replied. “So, the question is, do any of the new networks who have rights to show basketball games, will they try to hire Shaq, Kenny and Charles? And will Ernie follow up on his promise not to leave Turner? And the thought is that he likes his life, he doesn’t necessarily want to leave Atlanta. Could the show continue in Atlanta just for a different network? Is there studio space? Is any of that possible? The answer is yes. So, I think it’s way too early to say Inside the NBA is done…I believe that studio show still could exist.”
Charles Barkley confirmed in a recent interview on ESPN Cleveland that he has an opt-out in his deal should TNT Sports lose broadcasting rights to the NBA. Smith and O’Neal reportedly hold a similar clause.
