A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sport newsletter with Alex Sherman, which brings you the biggest news and exclusive interviews from the worlds of sports business and media. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
A rare event is happening right now in the sports business world. Two media powerhouses are simultaneously building their coverage teams for a marquee sport from scratch.
Amazon and NBC are trying to put together separate broadcast teams to cover the NBA. The centerpiece for both companies is concocting their own versions of “Inside the NBA,” the TNT Sports show featuring Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson.
You may remember “Inside the NBA” got a reprieve in November, when ESPN agreed to license the program from TNT Sports. Warner Bros. Discovery will no longer have NBA game rights after this season in the U.S., so the company struck a deal with Disney to keep the popular studio show going.
Behind the scenes, the news didn’t stop O’Neal, Smith and Barkley from talking to NBC and Amazon, according to people familiar with the matter. O’Neal’s contract has an out clause that allowed him to leave TNT if Warner Bros. Discovery didn’t retain NBA rights. Smith’s clause was more open to interpretation, the people said. Barkley’s contract doesn’t have the same flexibility, said the people, though it hasn’t stopped him from musing about his future.
But, rest assured NBA fans, O’Neal and Smith are coming back. Both are on the verge of re-signing with TNT Sports, CNBC has learned. O’Neal will sign a five-year contract. Smith will ink a multiyear deal, as well. A Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson declined to comment.
That’s made Amazon and NBC Sports’ decision a bit easier. They can focus on building their own studio shows rather than tearing down “Inside the NBA.”
Amazon has already announced several additions. Taylor Rooks, who contributes to “Thursday Night Football” for Amazon, will host Prime Video’s NBA studio show. Former NBA greats Blake Griffin and Dirk Nowitzki will be two of the panelists.
Both Amazon and NBC have held talks with former New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony to join their studio shows, according to people familiar with the matter. Both companies are also looking at current players who may contemplate retirement after this season, including Chris Paul, Kevin Love, Draymond Green and possibly Kyle Lowry.
NBC is also considering Maria Taylor, among others, to host the program, the people said. Spokespeople at NBC Sports and Amazon declined to comment.
A TV career can bring ex-athletes a lucrative extension on their playing careers. First-time contracts sometimes reach $5 million to $10 million a year, depending on the person and the job. Staying on TV in primetime slots can also lead to other endorsement deals, which has been a boon for Barkley and O’Neal, in particular.
“Inside the NBA” is clearly the gold standard of studio shows, not only for the NBA but for any sport, said Josh Pyatt, co-head of WME Sports, in an interview. The camaraderie among O’Neal, Barkley, Smith and Johnson has arguably never been matched by any sports TV crew.
“They all want what ‘Inside the NBA’ offers: a great group of guys who have great chemistry together. Everyone is trying to do their version of that,” said Pyatt. “From the athlete perspective, I think they enjoy being a part of a team again. These are people with credibility who are interested in talking about their sport in a unique way. They want to give back to the sport, and they have something to say.”
Amazon has had success building a studio show for “Thursday Night Football,” tapping ex-NFL stars Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andrew Whitworth, Tony Gonzalez and Richard Sherman. The combination of personality and analysis is a template for what Prime Video Global Head of Sports Jay Marine wants from an NBA show, he told me.
“We’re kind of in that phase of invention right now,” Marine said. “We’ll take the same consumer centric mindset we took to the NFL broadcast team in terms of bringing new talent on air. We’re incredibly excited about it.”
NBC Sports executives know they won’t be able to recreate the energy of “Inside the NBA” in year one, so they’re purposely taking a different approach. NBC is introducing a “Sunday Night Basketball” show, which will air next year when “Sunday Night Football” concludes. That show will begin with a studio show that’s more like a news magazine than “Inside the NBA,” which relies on extended banter, according to people familiar with the matter. It will then lead into NBC’s NBA game of the week.
NBC will lean heavily into 1990s nostalgia for the actual broadcast (the talks for “Roundball Rock” continue!), said the people. Mike Tirico will lead the play-by-play broadcast, the company announced this week.
***
Netflix executives still aren’t convinced buying full live sports packages is smart business.
The streamer said this week it added a record 19 million subscribers last quarter, fueled by the popularity of some of its live sports events. Netflix was the exclusive provider of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing match and its undercards, the home to two Christmas NFL games, and is the new distributor for WWE Raw. Netflix also acquired the exclusive U.S. broadcast rights for the next two FIFA Women’s World Cups.
Still, co-CEO Ted Sarandos said Netflix isn’t sure acquiring a full season’s worth of games from any of the major U.S. sports will be a profitable venture for the company.
“It doesn’t really change the underlying economics of full-season big-league sports being extremely challenging,” said Sarandos during Netflix’s earnings conference call Tuesday. “If there was a path where we could actually make the economics work for both us and the league, we certainly would explore. But right now, we believe that the live events business is where we really want to be. And sports is a very important part of that, but it is a part of that expansion.”
This has been Sarandos’ stated attitude toward sports for years.
“Please stop asking Ted Sarandos if Netflix is getting into live sports cause he’ll just keep saying no,” Awful Announcing declared as a headline in 2023.
All this said, I still wouldn’t write off Netflix as a buyer of a full package of NFL games when it gets a chance. Talks for those games are likely still four or five years away, given the NFL’s ability to pull out of its current media rights deal after the 2029-30 season.
There’s also plenty of precedent for Netflix to change its mind. It has cracked down on password sharing and introduced advertising in recent years – two things that were previously anathema to the company.
The changing media landscape in the next few years could alter Sarandos’ thinking. Netflix has already taken the plunge to be a regular provider of WWE events. It’s not much of a leap to assume the world will change enough in four years that Netflix being one of the NFL’s primary partners makes business sense for both parties.
On the record
With top sports agent Jeff Schwartz …
