The will-he-won’t-he saga involving Charles Barkley and his future with Warner Bros. Discovery/TNT Sports appears to have reached its conclusion.
Barkley isn’t going anywhere.
Despite losing the NBA after next season, pending its ongoing litigation, TNT Sports announced on Tuesday that not only is Barkley not retiring, not only is he not jumping to another network, but in fact he and TNT Sports have “reaffirmed his long-term commitment that will see the broadcasting icon and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer exclusively contribute to TNT Sports for many years to come.”
“I love my TNT Sports family. My #1 priority has been and always will be our people and keeping everyone together for as long as possible,” Barkley said in the release. “We have the most amazing people, and they are the best at what they do. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with them both on the shows we currently have and new ones we develop together in the future. This is the only place for me.”
Barkley also expressed excitement for the other sports properties that TNT Sports is adding, which include the NHL, MLB, March Madness and two College Football Playoff games which TNT Sports sub-licensed from ESPN recently.
Barkley had come out in late July saying that he either wanted TNT Sports to honor the 10-year, $210 million contract he signed in 2022 or he would entertain offers from other entities, including ESPN, NBC and Amazon.
Last week on Pablo Torre Finds Out, former ESPN president John Skipper had said that if he were TNT Sports he would not want to let Barkley go, even if the network no longer carried NBA games. He said Barkley is THE most entertaining commentator and he would even consider putting Barkley in a sitcom.
Make sure to stay tuned to Pablo Torre Finds Out for the next installment of How the NBA TV World Turns!
Show Breakdown
The Sporting Class: Decoding the NBA’s Billion-Dollar Legal Fight with Warner Bros. Discovery
Welcome to The Sporting Class! Meadowlark Media CEO John Skipper and Nothing Personal’s David Samson are back with another episode with host of Pablo Torre Finds Out … Pablo Torre! The NBA media rights deal saga is not over just yet. Warner Bros. Discovery is not going away quietly as they have now sued the NBA. What exactly does David Zaslav want from this? NBA games? Money? Both? What’s the deal with Charles Barkley? Is he going to stay with TNT? He said he was going to retire after the 2025 season, but now it doesn’t look likely. Let’s take a look at the judge in this case of WBD v. NBA. The judge hearing the case was a part of the Spirits of St. Louis and its lawsuit against the NBA. Should this knowledge from the judge matter? Comcast is one of the largest distributors in the country. What is TNT worth to Comcast if it loses the NBA? Let’s explain what these carriage fees are and the leverage Comcast has over the new fees.
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