The National Basketball Association and Warner Bros. Discovery have reportedly agreed to a settlement that will allow “Inside the NBA,” featuring Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson Jr., to air on ESPN and ABC during the 2025-26 season.
This settlement will conclude an ongoing legal battle between the two sides and allow Warner Bros. Discovery to continue doing business with the NBA for the next decade, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) previously filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit after the National Basketball Association (NBA) rejected an offer to match Amazon’s bid for media rights. The previous contract stipulated that Warner Bros. could match any media rights agreement between the NBA and another partner, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Although TNT will lose the rights to air regular and postseason games in the U.S., the settlement will permit the company to air games in select countries and create new content related to the NBA, per ESPN.
TNT will have “complete editorial control” over “Inside the NBA” moving forward as those close to the situation have described the settlement as a rights swap, according to Front Office Sports.
ESPN will receive the “Inside the NBA” show, while TNT is expected to receive more content from Big 12 football and basketball in exchange.
TNT Sports CEO Luis Silberwasser said in a statement that the company is “thrilled to continue to produce Inside the NBA for ESPN and ABC” and that the main objective of these discussions was to ensure fans “keep enjoying the magic of this show during the NBA season.”
“At TNT Sports, we take great pride in our Inside the NBA show and know 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,” Silberwasser stated, per ESPN.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the settlement and continuation of “Inside the NBA” is a “huge win for basketball fans everywhere.”
“We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms,” Silver added, per NBA.com.
