In one of the largest shake-ups in sports broadcasting this century, Turner Sports (TNT) lost out on an 11-year rights deal to broadcast the NBA.
But while they may have lost their apex product, they didn’t lose their apex presenter, who turned down a total of $100 million in contract offers from other networks so that the team that supports him could maintain their jobs for their final year together.
Last Wednesday, Charles Barkley revealed on the Dan Le Batard Show podcast that as TNT enters the final year of its contract to broadcast the NBA, he could have ended his participation with the network and gone to sign with one of the other networks included in the new 11-year broadcasting deal.
Barkley, who signed a 10-year agreement with TNT Sports in 2022, will be entering his 25th year with the company and chose to stay onboard until the 2025-2026 season to make sure his team maintained their livelihoods.
According to People Magazine, an exit by Barkley would have been contractually sound, as the network had lost the broadcasting rights.
“I love my TNT Sports family,” Barkley said in a statement released by Turner. “My #1 priority has been and always will be our people and keeping everyone together for as long as possible.”
“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.”
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In late July, the NBA chose to sign a $1.8 billion per year offer from ESPN’s parent company Walt Disney, NBC, and Amazon for the next 11 years of NBA coverage, while TNT’s equivalent offer was rebuffed.
The league stated it looked forward to another season on TNT, but Turner Sports announced it would examine legal options.
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“I want to thank all of those networks for reaching out to me,” the two-time NBA Hall of Famer said on the Dan Le Batard show. “It was really humbling and cool, to be honest with you. Even though they were throwing crazy numbers, like damn, but as long as I got my people safe at TNT man, I feel really good.”
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