TNT recently suffered a massive blow in the form of ‘Inside the NBA,’ but they are now engaged in ‘preliminary’ talks regarding another sports property.
The network will no longer carry the iconic basketball show after this upcoming NBA season, as the league rejected its offer for media rights last month.
Now, however, TNT could get back in the game with LIV Golf, with Front Office Sports reporting there have been ‘exploratory’ discussions going on between LIV and TNT’s parent company Turner.
LIV, the Saudi-backed breakaway league which agreed to a yet-to-materialize merger with the PGA Tour last year, has been broadcasting its tournaments on The CW since launching two years ago.
However, ratings have been poor for the start-up as last Sunday’s final round at Greenbrier drew a paltry 165,000 viewers.
Charles Barkley will remain with TNT after the network lost the NBA media rights after 2024-25
LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman is during day three of LIV Golf: Greenbrier last weekend
According to Puck News, there are still discussions ongoing between The CW and LIV, though FOS was told that The CW ‘balked’ at LIV’s initial asking price.
FOS has reported that LIV is ‘eager’ to find a broadcast partner for next year, while TNT has been described as a ‘highly sought-after’ potential partner for other leagues following its NBA split.
While the NBA was broadcast on TNT for 34 years, the league chose to enter into agreements with NBC and Amazon Prime Video, while also continuing their relationship with ESPN.
TNT’s loss of rights also means the end of ‘Inside the NBA’ – the fan-favorite show featuring Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson – past the 2024-25 season.
Barkley, who is notably a big golf fan and has contributed to TNT’s coverage of ‘The Match’, is in the third-year of a 10-year, $210million contract but could have gotten even more money if he had decided to leave TNT.
The 61-year-old told the Dan LeBatard Show that he gave up $100million to remain with TNT – in order to protect the jobs of his co-workers.
‘The No 1 thing for me is my people at Turner get to keep their jobs for another year – that’s all I was concerned with,’ he said.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk