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We’re more than a year away from the NBA’s $77 billion media-rights deals kicking in. But chess pieces are already in motion following the surprising departure of ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski.
NBCUniversal is eyeing free-agent reporter Shams Charania, sources tell Front Office Sports. I’ve also heard Amazon is interested. The two sports media giants are poised to divide the NBA’s TV rights with incumbent ESPN starting with the 2025–2026 season. (TNT Sports, the NBA’s other longtime incumbent media partner, is suing to retain its rights.)
The interest between Charania and suitors are in early stages, say sources. As with previous TV free agents Jason Kelce and Bill Belichick, he’s keeping his options wide open. “He’s talking to everyone at this point,” says one source.
Charania would fit neatly into NBC or Amazon Prime Video’s coverage. I could see NBC, which will air games for the first time in more than two decades, using Charania’s inside information similar to how the network employs Mike Florio on Football Night in America. Based on its track record with the NFL’s Thursday Night Football, Prime likes to cast a blend of established talents and promising rookies. The 30-year-old star would be a great fit for Prime’s audience, which averages seven years younger during NFL games than the comparable audiences on linear networks. After competing against ESPN his whole career, Charania might relish the opportunity to compete against a Woj-less Bristol, writes Sam Amico of Hoops Wire.
ESPN is still ESPN. Wojnarowski’s decision to retire from journalism and join his alma mater St. Bonaventure blows a huge hole in the sports giant’s NBA coverage. When ESPN wants a major talent, it usually gets them. (See how they raided Fox Sports to hire both Troy Aikman and Joe Buck.) But ESPN could elevate Brian Windhorst or Ramona Shelburne. Or use its loaded bench of NBA journalists—including Marc J. Spears, Zach Lowe, Tim Bontemps, and front office insider Bobby Marks—to adopt a scoops-by-committee approach.
Keep this in mind: The Athletic won’t let Charania go without a fight. He’s been a huge part of the company’s hoops coverage since jumping over from Yahoo in 2018. The imprimatur of The New York Times is a lure for any journalist. It’s possible he could keep his written work at The Athletic while signing with Prime or NBC for an on-camera role.
The timing of the free-agent sweepstakes line up nicely for Charania and fellow available insider Chris Haynes. Charania’s deals with The Athletic and FanDuel, and Haynes’s contract with TNT, are up this year, according to the New York Post. Another name to watch is rising star Jake Fischer. He’s leaving Yahoo for parts currently unknown. I could see him jumping to Bill Simmons’s The Ringer or The Athletic.
