As TNT Sports is in the midst of the final season of its media rights deal with the NBA, the sports division is planning for the future with a bevy of additional properties and digital capabilities surrounding the league. With the award-winning studio program Inside the NBA to be sublicensed to The Walt Disney Company and air on ESPN and ABC, the Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiary reportedly has a long-term deal in place with Shaquille O’Neal worth more than $15 million per year. Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports was the first to report the news surrounding O’Neal to remain on Inside the NBA as the show enters a new chapter.
O’Neal has been a member of Inside the NBA since 2011 after he retired from the league and has been working alongside host Ernie Johnson and analysts Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Charles Barkley. The Hall of Fame center was a four-time NBA champion throughout his career and also earned 15 NBA All-Star selections.
This agreement reported as being in place comes while NBC Sports and Amazon’s Prime Video continue to build out their talent rosters ahead of commencing 11-year media rights agreements with the league. The show is broadcasting from San Francisco, Calif. this weekend as it covers the NBA All-Star Game for the final time under the existing contract.
The remainder of the cast on Inside the NBA is expected to remain with TNT Sports, with the company announcing a long-term commitment with Barkley this past August. Despite reportedly receiving offers from the new rightsholders and ESPN, he has decided to remain with TNT Sports and is optimistic about the future of the show. Smith is also expected to ink a multiyear deal that would keep him with TNT Sports, while Johnson is perceived as someone who is “a TNT lifer.” The show will be produced from the Atlanta-based studio under the sublicensing agreement and contain the same production team as well.
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