Discovery and Disney have cracked an agreement to license the basketball show to Disney for broadcast on ESPN and ABC.
Warner Bros. Discovery made a new agreement with the parent company of TNT Sports and has settled their months-long lawsuit. Both parties have reached an agreement to show NBA games on its Bleacher Report and House of Highlights outlets. The new pact will help the NBA to distribute games across Northern Europe and parts of Latin America (leaving Brazil and Mexico).
As per the report of the Wall Street Journal‘s Joe Flint, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney have cracked an agreement to license the basketball show to Disney for broadcast on ESPN and ABC. So, TNT’s longtime basketball studio show, “Inside the NBA” will start airing on these two platforms after the end of the ongoing season.
Flint reported, “While Warner Bros. Discovery is losing rights to regular and postseason games for its TNT network after this season, the settlement will give it rights to a significant amount of NBA content domestically and abroad, the people said, and the league will avoid a continued legal battle in court.”
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s efforts to retain some NBA content even after losing its grip on a long-held rights package underscores how valuable live sporting events are and the lengths media companies will go to keep a piece of the action for their cable and streaming customers.”
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This new settlement adds the period of 11 years and will also end a suit against the league that started after the NBA elected to cut Warner out of the structure of its next TV deal. “Inside the NBA” show will be live on ESPN that shows highlighting parts of the NBA season.
Meanwhile, Warner Brothers Discovery will take the rights to show Big 12 football and men’s basketball. They will produce the Inside the NBA show, which will be led by Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. This new deal will give a new package of games as they were aware of the previous decline in its cable business.
The “Inside the NBA” show will start airing from season 2025-26 on ESPN and ABC. It will feature Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal. ESPN will produce the network’s basketball programming including “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today.”
As per the contract, TNT Sports will air two College Football Playoff games beginning this season. They have had an NBA package since 1984 and aired NBA games since 1988. This season will be the final one.
Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman of ESPN, shared a statement on the agreement, “We have long admired the immensely talented team and are thrilled to add their chemistry and knowledge to our robust set of NBA studio offerings to super-serve NBA fans like never before. The addition of Inside the NBA further solidifies ESPN as the preeminent destination for sports fans.”
“At TNT Sports, we take great pride in our Inside the NBA show. Its success is both a reflection of the iconic talent on set and the incredible people behind the scenes who consistently demonstrate the creativity and craft of our great team,” TNT Sports CEO Luis Silberwasser said.
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