Great news for NBA fans – TNT’s beloved basketball studio show ‘Inside the NBA’ has been saved.
Fans feared for the future of the show amid the NBA‘s 11-year, $77 billion agreements with ESPN, NBC and Amazon Prime Video that left TNT Sports very much on the outside looking in.
However, according to The Wall Street Journal, Warner Bros. Discovery — TNT’s parent company — and Disney have reached an agreement to license the basketball show to Disney for broadcast on ESPN and ABC.
It means popular quartet Shaq, Barkley, Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith will all remain on our screens, with Inside The NBA airing on ESPN and ABC from next season.
Furthermore, “Since there are no rights fees, TNT Sports is anticipated to be guaranteed $350 million for marketing support and advertising inventory in the first five years of the 11-year deal, according to sources briefed on the agreement.”
The news is a hugely positive development for a show that has won 19 Sports Emmy Awards and has been on the air since 1989.
NBA fans caught wind of the news and shared their reactions online.
“INSIDE THE NBA IS STAYING LETS GOOO,” wrote one excitable fan on X.
“WE ARE SO BACK,” posted another.
“This is worthy of throwing something on the grill,” a third commented.
“I’m going to cry man,” a fourth replied.
The outcome marks the end of a bitter legal battle between the NBA and Warner Bros. Discovery after TNT Sports sued the league in July after the NBA rejected its offer to match the terms of Amazon Prime Video’s offer.
Now, an agreement has been reached and TNT Sports will reportedly receive global rights outside America for House of Highlights, Bleacher Report, and Inside The NBA.
Even though Inside the NBA will be on ESPN and ABC beginning with the 2025-26 season, TNT Sports will reportedly continue to produce the show and it will continue to air from ‘Studio J’ in Atlanta.
Inside the NBA talent will remain TNT Sports employees and can be used on future Warner Bros. Discovery sports programs, meaning Ernie and Charles can still be utilized for March Madness coverage.
Warner Bros. Discovery will also continue its relationship with the league’s digital operations, including NBA.com, for five seasons.
TNT Sports will also begin showing Big 12 football and men’s basketball games next season as part of a sublicense with ESPN. TNT will air two College Football Playoff games beginning this season also under a sublicense with ESPN.
Inside the NBA is expected to air during key moments on the league’s calendar — opening night, Christmas Day, the playoffs and the NBA Final.
The NBA and ESPN re-negotiated its deal earlier this year while the league welcomed NBC and Amazon Prime Video as new rights-holders.
The last contract NBC held expired in 2002, when the NBA then decided to move forward with ESPN and TNT.
The Walt Disney Company will continue to show the league with 80 regular-season games across ESPN and ABC. It will also air around 18 playoff games and remain the home of the NBA Finals.
NBC will show up to 100 games per season across it’s channels and Peacock streaming service. It will also be the home of All-Star weekend, 28 playoff series, and share Conference Finals Series duties with Amazon Prime Video.
Prime will show 66 NBA regular-season game and is the home of the latter stages of the NBA Cup and the Play-In Tournament.
