Shaquille O’Neal has an agreement in place for an enormous long-term deal with TNT Sports that will pay him over $15 million per year, Front Office Sports has learned.
The deal is good news for TNT as it licenses the Emmy Award–winning Inside the NBA to ESPN next season in exchange for a package of Big 12 college football/basketball games.
Whether O’Neal would return for the show’s first season on ESPN was one of the biggest questions hanging over the cast. The four-time NBA champion joined Inside the NBA in 2011 after a 19-year playing career. With his portfolio of endorsements, the 52-year-old is believed to have a net worth around $500 million.
The show’s megastar, Charles Barkley, makes $21 million per year via a 10-year $210 million contract extension signed in 2022. Barkley is also sticking with TNT despite offers from NBC, Amazon and ESPN.
“I’m informing NBC that I will not accept their offer,” Barkley told Ernie Johnson Jr. on their Steam Room podcast. “I’m gonna cancel future meetings with Amazon. … My heart is always and will be at Turner Sports.”
Barkley expressed optimism he could make it work on Inside the NBA. “I’m hoping this thing comes together and I can stay with TNT and ESPN,” he said.
Kenny “The Jet” Smith is also expected to sign a new multi-year deal to remain with TNT, say sources. Johnson, the glue that holds the show together, is viewed as a TNT lifer. Since Inside the NBA will continue to be produced in the same Atlanta studio, he’s expected to remain with the show as well.
Besides Barkley, O’Neal and Smith also had conversations with the NBA’s incoming rights partners NBC and Amazon, according to CNBC Sport.
O’Neal’s pending mega-deal will remove a very large piece from the proverbial chessboard as NBC and Amazon race to sign hoops talent for the fall.
NBC is expected to announce the hiring of Carmelo Anthony as a studio analyst in the coming days. The Comcast company is also poised to hire Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford as its top color commentators alongside play-by-play announcers Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle. Maria Taylor, host of Sunday Night Football, is also likely to host the network’s NBA studio coverage.
Meanwhile, Amazon has hired host Taylor Rooks and analysts Dirk Nowitzki and Blake Griffin for its studio coverage. FOS previously reported that when he retires, Warrior star Draymond Green will explore his media options. Amazon Prime’s play-by-play broadcasters will include Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan.
Tom Brady at Fox Sports is No. 1 at $37.5 million per year. Barkley is No. 2 at $21 million a year, and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is expected to score a five-year, $100 million deal that would put him at $20 million a year. ESPN’s Troy Aikman ($18 million), CBS analyst Tony Romo ($18 million) ESPN’s Pat McAfee ($17 million), and ESPN’s Joe Buck ($15) million also earn major annual salaries. Peyton Manning is also on the list of highest-earning sports media personalities. But it’s difficult to separate his individual salary from Omaha Productions, which has a long-term agreement with ESPN through 2034. Omaha Productions raised capital at a valuation of $400 million in 2023.
Starting with the 2025-2026 season, Disney’s ABC and ESPN, NBCUniversal’s NBC and Peacock, and Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service are combining to pay $77 billion over 11 years for NBA rights.
Ryan Glasspiegel contributed to this story.
