Legendary former Phoenix Suns forward and NBA analyst Charles Barkley released a statement about the NBA dropping TNT as part of its new media rights deal beginning in the 2025-26 season.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Barkley, who has already announced he is retiring from television at the end of the 2024-25 season, is not happy at all that the NBA chose Amazon’s offer over TNT’s.
“Clearly the NBA has wanted to break up with us from the beginning. I’m not sure TNT ever had a chance,” Barkley said in a statement posted on social media. “TNT matched the money, but the league knows Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future. The NBA didn’t want to piss them off.
“It’s a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans. It just sucks.
“I just want to thank everyone who has been at Turner for the last 24 years. They are the best people and the most talented and they deserve better. I also want to thank the NBA and its fans – the best fans in sports. We’re going to give you everything we have next season.”
Shortly after Barkley’s post, TNT announced it would be taking legal action against the NBA.
“Given the NBA’s unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights. We strongly believe this is not just our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to keep watching our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed WBD video-first distribution platforms – including TNT and Max,” the company said in a statement on social media.
TNT Sports statement on NBA media rights: pic.twitter.com/C14DPCJ65P
— TNT Sports U.S. PR (@TNTSportsUS) July 26, 2024
The NBA announced Wednesday that it signed a new media rights deal with ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon Prime Video beginning with the 2025-26 season and running through the 2035-36 season. The deal will reportedly bring the NBA over $76 billion across these 11 years.
Right before this, the NBA said TNT did not match Amazon’s offer, valued at $1.8 billion:
“Warner Bros. Discovery’s most recent proposal did not match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer and, therefore, we have entered into a long-term arrangement with Amazon.
“Throughout these negotiations, our primary objective has been to maximize the reach and accessibility of our games for our fans. Our new arrangement with Amazon supports this goal by complementing the broadcast, cable and streaming packages that are already part of our new Disney and NBCUniversal arrangements. All three partners have also committed substantial resources to promote the league and enhance the fan experience.
“We are grateful to Turner Sports for its award-winning coverage of the NBA and look forward to another season of the NBA on TNT.”
TNT and Barkley certainly feel like they did match Amazon’s offer, so we will see what comes from this legal action.
NBA officially moving away from TNT in new media rights deal
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
