NBA approves new media deals with Disney (ABC/ESPN), Comcast (NBC), and Amazon for 11 years, $77 billion. Update: NBA REJECTS WBD's (TNT Sports) deal

[NYC Rebel]

I don't know about that one. Never forget that when the company is public, all that corporate strategy bullshyt flies out the window when the stock isn't returning value for shareholders. Their shyt is down almost 30% in the last months based off of the OTHER fukkery Zaslav has been overseeing. If the stock takes another sizable hit after whatever happens with the NBA, there will absolutely be very real conversations about getting him the fukk out of there. You can take losses on content, you can carry a shyt ton of debt, you can have mostly negative public sentiment towards your company, and you can have an extended downturn in stock price, but you can't have all four, and definitely not all at once.



What the other people aren't getting across is that for the NFL, there's a balance. Most of the big studio shows have fukkery segments for entertainment, but those are meant as breaks from the analysis that's given out.

As funny as Inside the NBA is, it really doesn't balance out the fukkery well at all. That's all people are really asking for, and if we're being completely honest, the Inside the NBA cast as they are now, aren't capable, and probably aren't actually willing to overhaul the show to do that.

how DARE YOU tell @Joe Sixpack the behaviors of a more successful league in downplaying Shaq and Chuck! Youre going overboard!! You’re miserable offline!!

 

[Legal]

how DARE YOU tell @Joe Sixpack the behaviors of a more successful league in downplaying Shaq and Chuck! Youre going overboard!! You’re miserable offline!!

I mean, I get it. It's hard to listen to criticism of things you like. But if we're being real, the NFL is way more successful with on screen personalities that aren't even half as strong as the Inside the NBA cast is, and there's a reason. For better or worse, they've been directed to not go too overboard with the bullshyt.

Even the segments built around someone throwing out an utterly bullshyt opinion are built in a way that there's always at least one person pushing back on that opinion.

 

[FTBS]

NBA TV had a great reoccurring show called Open Court. I used to look forward to those episodes. I don't know why they got rid of it.

Such a great show. Way less pretense and BS than the broadcasts. Just a bunch of players sitting around shooting the shyt. Offered some nice insights and was fun too. Of course they stopped it

NBA TV in general is such a waste. They could do so much more and they just dont

 

[NYC Rebel]

I mean, I get it. It's hard to listen to criticism of things you like. But if we're being real, the NFL is way more successful with on screen personalities that aren't even half as strong as the Inside the NBA cast is, and there's a reason. For better or worse, they've been directed to not go too overboard with the bullshyt.

Even the segments built around someone throwing out an utterly bullshyt opinion are built in a way that there's always at least one person pushing back on that opinion.

Agreed. And if one is going to feel a way about your points, debunk them rather than going the online Dr Melphi route trying to diagnose ones happiness.

 

[SchoolboyC]

If part of the new deal is NBC or Amazon taking control of NBATV then I say good because Turner has done the bare minimum with it

There’s no reason that NFL & MLB Networks should be running laps around it like they do.

Maybe nothing changes at all but it’s worth a shot at least

 

[AStrangeName]

This is a weird take.

And he got a weird case, why is he around?

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

If part of the new deal is NBC or Amazon taking control of NBATV then I say good because Turner has done the bare minimum with it

There’s no reason that NFL & MLB Networks should be running laps around it like they do.

Maybe nothing changes at all but it’s worth a shot at least

You mean the same NFL Network that's currently being gutted by the NFL and would get tossed to the bushes altogether if they had their choice? lol

Unfortunately for the NFL Network, ESPN is probably going to end up taking over some portions of it depending on how it plays out

 

[K-Apps]

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is “annoyed” with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and the WBD team as the league continues its new media rights negotiations, according to sources cited by Matthew Belloni of PUCK. Belloni notes the league has “selected its preferred broadcast partners” -- Disney/ESPN gets the A package for $2.8B a year, Comcast/NBC “swipes” the B package for about $2.5B, and Amazon Prime Video lands a new C package for “just under” $2B. But Zaslav “won’t let it go” and WBD “might try to match not the package he’s losing but Amazon’s.” Once the three deals are presented to WBD, Zaz & Co. will have “five days to match” -- but it is “unclear what that even means.” The packages awarded and the platforms offered “look very different from the current deals” -- and the “matching rights” language is “old and doesn’t contemplate the disparity of assets.” Belloni writes what is “clear” is that the NBA “no longer wants Turner.” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts is reportedly “offering the prime real estate of two primetime games a week on NBC,” which WBD “can’t ‘match’ because it doesn’t have a broadcast network.” Nor can Zaslav “likely ‘match’ Amazon’s offer” because he would “never put all the games exclusively on his streamer.” Silver has been “irked” by Zaslav since his “We don’t have to have the NBA” comments back in 2022, a “clear misstep.” Zaslav and TNT Sports Chair & CEO Luis Silberwasser “could still match one of these deals,” or they could “somehow finagle a tiny fourth package to keep some NBA.” Belloni: “But why would Silver allow that to happen?” (PUCK, 5/24).

 

[Nero Christ]

Silver is basically telling WBD to get rid of Zaslav and we can do business again

 

[Ribbs]

Breh, we’re about to lose Harlan too

Kevin Harlan addresses future if TNT loses NBA: 'I'd be lying if I said that the NBA didn't have a very special place in my heart'

Kevin Harlan is the top NBA play-by-play voice at TNT Sports, which is expected to lose NBA rights after next season.

awfulannouncing.com

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Are you illiterate? The TNT app has existed for years before the Max all came about. Games just got on Max this year. Did you just gloss over the whole back and forth me and @FAH1223 just had?

Just admit you didn't know the games stream on Max. It ain't that serious

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

So how does this play out now? Does WBD match Amazon and dare Bald headed fakkit to tell them "No"?

Lawyers are lookin at this like right now..

 

[FakeNews]

NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s patience is said to be running thin with Warner Bros. Discovery.

Silver is said to be “annoyed” with Warner Bros. Discovery and its president and CEO David Zaslav, according to Matthew Belloni of Puck. The current source of his irritation is WBD’s persistence in a media rights negotiation that the league regards as functionally over, but it more broadly dates back to Zaslav’s comment nearly two years ago that his company did not “have to have” the NBA.

Silver is not alone in his displeasure with WBD and Zaslav, as TNT’s Charles Barkley expressed frustration with company leadership — including suggesting that Silver was irritated by Zaslav’s 2022 comment — in an interview with Dan Patrickthis week.

The league’s thinking, per Belloni, is that WBD had its chance to retain the rights during its exclusive negotiating window and blew the opportunity. Per Lucas Shaw of Bloomberg, the NBA sought $2.3 billion per year from WBD to retain its “B” package and Zaslav was unwilling to offer anything beyond $2.1 billion. Comcast has since bid $2.5 billion for the rights.

Over the life of an 11-year deal, WBD would end up paying $4.4 billion more for the package than it initially desired in the event it was able to match — and that assuming it is able to match on price alone, which the NBA is said to dispute. Alternatively, WBD is said to be exploring the possibility of matching Amazon’s $1.8 billion/year bid for a new “C” package of games, carving out a fourth package, or seeking a settlement from the NBA.

Per multiple reports, WBD will have five days to match once Comcast and Amazon make their formal offers, which is expected at some point in the near future.

The NBA has had a 40-year relationship with the networks under the TNT Sports banner, but its relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery dates back less than three years — since the Turner networks were spun off from AT&T and merged into a new venture with Zaslav-led Discovery. The NBA last renewed with TNT a decade ago in 2014, when the network’s parent company Time Warner had yet to be acquired by AT&T.

WBD has relatively few domestic deals under its belt in its short existence, most recently acquiring College Football Playoff games in a sublicensing agreement with ESPN. It also acquired rights to NASCAR and MotoGP racing. (It should be noted that Zaslav-led Discovery has long been an aggressive bidder for sports rights internationally.)

Notably in the latest reporting, it is unclear how NBA All-Star Weekend will factor into negotiations. Previous reporting indicated that the All-Star festivities will be part of the “B” package — as WBD currently owns rights to the event — but CNBC reported that it will shift to Amazon’s “C” package. Belloni of Puck is reporting that the NBA “still needs clarity” on that aspect of the deal, as well as some international and local issues.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

It's the same shyt with every new article. "Bald headed fakkit is upset... bald headed fakkit is losing his patience.... The deals are done. It's all over."

But then you read the details of the actual article and they all clearly state that WBD has matching rights. NBA doesn't think WBD has matching rights on price point alone.

Get the lawyers on the phone.

 

[Joe Sixpack]

Wow

Beautiful Analysis from the guys on Inside the NBA just now