When Warner Bros. Discovery reached a settlement with the National Basketball Association over a lawsuit pertaining to media rights, it marked a moment in the history of the sports division. For the first time since 1984, a property currently in its oversight would not hold NBA U.S. broadcasting rights, a reality that is going to commence next season. Despite efforts to reach a deal, the league opted to sign 11-year contracts with The Walt Disney Company, Comcast Corporation and Amazon reportedly worth a collective $77 billion.
Rather than taking a wholly reactionary approach though, Warner Bros. Discovery was proactive several months ahead of time and started to reimagine its TNT Sports portfolio to provide value for stakeholders.
Among the properties under consideration for TNT Sports was Roland-Garros, one of the four tennis majors. NBC and Tennis Channel had previously aired the tournament in the United States, but the entities did not reach new deals with the French Tennis Federation upon the expirations of their contracts. TNT Sports recognized an opportunity to broaden its offerings and ended up reaching a deal under which it is paying a reported $65 million per year, enabling it to present multiplatform coverage through the championship rounds. Craig Barry, the executive vice president and chief content officer of TNT Sports, understands the appeal of the annual tournament and how it fits within the network dossier.
“We’re in the premium sports business. We have a premium sport that we can crown a championship on, and then it’s a great activation as well,” Barry said. “It’s only one of four slams, it’s a limited opportunity. We’re an entertainment network that has sports, and so our template is to make sure that we have the most premium of those sports.”
TNT Sports is currently at a distinctive place in the sports calendar where it is presenting several marquee properties simultaneously. In addition to coverage of Roland-Garros from Paris, the company is airing the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers, the final series under its existing media rights deal. Moreover, TNT Sports is on the cusp of presenting the NHL Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in company history and also televising Tuesday night MLB regular-season games. The strategy of acquiring premium sports rights with championship implications has assisted the company in garnering strong viewership despite its lack of a broadcast television offering, partially facilitated through effective synergies and promotion.
“When you have all these properties in the same family, the first thing that’s most important is [to] make sure everybody understands that these properties are happening,” Barry said. “If you’re an NHL fan, make sure they know that the NBA is happening or the MLB is happening or Roland-Garros is happening, and if you’re an NBA fan, the same, or NHL [and] MLB, and use those platforms to creatively make sure that you’re creating awareness.”
Identifying What Serves the Audience Best
Although TNT Sports does not have a network allocated for 24-hour sports coverage, Barry explained that it likes to present year-round programming. Whenever Barry and the team at TNT Sports are thinking about acquiring a new property, they ask themselves whether it is premium, if it fits the programming strategy and if it serves multiple platforms in the ecosystem. An example of such is the return of NASCAR to its platforms beginning in June under a seven-year contract.
“Five races are on TNT, but then we have 36 races on Max for the in-car product and then we have another 14 practice and qualifiers on truTV, so it really optimizes all of our platforms,” Barry said. “Roland-Garros, the same thing. We have a whiparound show on truTV, we have obviously kind of the primary network matches on TNT, and then every match is available to you on Max.”
TNT Sports is executing an approach that will leverage its portfolio of networks such as TNT, TBS and truTV to feature live matches and other coverage. The division will also be creating content for Bleacher Report and House of Highlights, digital properties that appeal to younger demographics. Operating under the premise of trying to reach everyone, Barry hopes that the company can gain traction and discern intersections within the viewing audience.
“We’re here to serve the fan – that’s who we answer to – and so if the fan is interested in ultimately watching it in a traditional way on TNT, then there’s that opportunity,” Barry said. “If they’re more interested in taking a trip around Roland-Garros for a few hours as we bounce from court to court, then that’s the opportunity; or if they want to just move around themselves and watch various matches in their entirety on Max, they’re welcome to do that too.”
The whiparound show, which is titled The Rally, is airing throughout the first three rounds of coverage and features a rotating cast that includes Mark Petchey and Patrick McEnroe. This product will move across courts at Stade Roland Garros showcasing salient action around the sports complex. There could also be instances where McEnroe will work alongside his brother, John, presenting differentiable perspectives from the siblings and former tennis champions. The talent roster overall features skilled commentators, active players and former stars.
“We want everybody to be able to do everything,” Barry said. “If there’s a group of people that we feel are uniquely qualified to be in the booth, then that’s where they’re going to be and/or if that’s where they want to be, then we have that flexibility.”
Bringing a New Approach and Presentation to the French Open
Among the commentators is Alex Faust, a multisport play-by-play announcer who will be calling Roland-Garros for the second time in his career. Faust previously called the 2020 iteration of the tournament remotely for Tennis Channel and has been on the broadcast for seven Grand Slam tournaments throughout his career. Being overseas and feeling the energy of the crowd, he is looking forward to providing commentary.
“It’s similar to a baseball broadcast, especially baseball broadcasts prior to the pitch clock where storytelling was such a key element for the play-by-play voice,” Faust said. “In tennis [with] the play-by-play role, you’re laying out most of the time, and our job is to caption the moment as much as it is to deliver commentary in a big sequence.”
Faust believes that the product will stand out in part because of the top-tier analysis, yet he understands the criticism surrounding tennis not being a sport conducive to television viewership and knows that TNT Sports will be trying new things pertaining to access.
For example, Faust stated that there is a plan in place to try and get live microphones with those in the coaching box, along with implementing different camera angles that bring viewers closer to the action. In fact, he believes that while the high angle places the game in perspective, there is value in having access to other views proprietary to TNT away from the world feed.
“The speed of the professional game and the physicality on clay – and sometimes we don’t really capture that well on television because we’re trying to put the entire field in perspective,” Faust said. “Imagine watching a football game from the All-22 camera. It might show you everything that’s going on, but it removes you a little bit from feeling the game.”
Throughout its 36-year tenure, Inside the NBA has become inextricably tied to TNT broadcasts of the NBA, granting viewers an adept mix of information, entertainment and engagement. Ernie Johnson has led the show since 1990 and currently works alongside analysts Kenny “The Jet” Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal.
Albeit for a shorter time, TNT Sports also has studio offerings surrounding hockey and baseball broadcasts featuring athletes such as Wayne Gretzky, Henrik Lundqvist and Pedro Martínez. Faust observes that tennis studio shows have oftentimes been utilized as an interview platform, but he is also looking forward to witnessing shrewd analysis and humor.
“We have group texts going between myself, Brian Anderson and Adam Lefkoe where we’re sharing memes from around the tennis world or we’re sharing news and hot gossip, and I think we’re really going to try to lean into all of those things, much like we’ve done at TNT with our MLB show, with our NHL show, with the NBA on TNT,” Faust said.
Rather than relying on remote integration models of production that emphasize doing more with less, TNT Sports will be presenting genuine on-site coverage throughout the tournament. The network will have dedicated sets for TNT, truTV and Bleacher Report, along with other content outside of the matches, such as feature stories with Venus Williams, and multiple player interviews. Barry regards TNT Sports taking this all-in approach as a first step to bringing new energy to Roland-Garros, and it is approaching the venture as a singular company with Eurosport and TNT UK possessing overseas broadcast rights as well.
“We’re coming in with a brand-new fresh lens and there’s a lot of benefit to that. That should create an opportunity for us, and not to mention we’ll have the global rights for the most part, and that should create something pretty special as well,” said Barry.
Continue to Expand Post-NBA on TNT
In addition to Roland-Garros, TNT Sports has bolstered its portfolio with the additions of properties such as Big East Conference college basketball, Unrivaled Basketball and the FIFA Club World Cup soccer tournament. Concerning the latter, Barry views it as being a “strategically additive” opportunity that the company was not thinking about as a long-term plan. When the company analyzed the enterprise against its existing portfolio of sports rights, which also includes March Madness, All Elite Wrestling and sublicensing deals for select Big 12 Conference contests and College Football Playoff matchups, it proved to be a strong fit.
“Luis [Silberwasser], our chairman, is really smart and thoughtful about what properties will best enhance and amplify our current properties, and again, it’s also important to us,” Barry said. “We like being on kind of year-round even though we’re not a sports channel. We like to be able to pepper our fanbase in every quarter purposefully.”
When Roland-Garros crowns new champions next weekend, it will mark the conclusion of the first year of a decade-long pact granting rights to the tournament. Barry hopes to reflect on the presentation and feel that TNT Sports has helped move the game forward at a time where he views tennis as being at somewhat of a crossroads. Being able to amplify the stars of Roland-Garros and the unique environment associated with the tournament would represent a triumph for Barry and his colleagues at TNT Sports, along with providing a product that fosters community awareness and does justice to the sport.
“If they notice that, ‘Yeah, it’s different than it’s been, and this Grand Slam feels different in a good way,’ and I think that’s, on the surface, what success looks like,” Barry said. “And then the opportunity to say, ‘Okay, hey. What can we do better? How can we create more efficiency?,’ and you’re looking to get better year-over-year. But I think in Year 1, you really want people to come away and say… ‘Wow, that was a really well-done Slam. That felt big and special.’”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Derek Futterman is a former associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. Find him on X @derekfutterman.
