With its back against the wall in the NBA $76 billion media-rights negotiations, TNT Sports is going all in on nostalgia.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT, Bleacher Report, and House of Highlights have launched an aggressive social media campaign to try to save TNT’s live game rights, as well as Charles Barkley’s iconic Inside the NBA.
TNT declined to comment. But the social blitz has several business objectives, according to my sources. First, remind the NBA of TNT’s superlative coverage throughout 40 years. Second, spark a groundswell of support from hoops fans, players, and celebrities who don’t want Inside the NBA, and its Emmy-winning cast of Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson, canceled after a final 2024–2025 season. The offseason marketing blitz even has its own hashtag: #KeepNBAonTNT.
“The idea here is to let the content speak for itself,” one PR expert tracking the effort tells Front Office Sports. The support is evident.
On Tuesday, Bleacher Report retweeted a TNT post to its 18.3 million followers celebrating the on-air chemistry of the Inside the NBA cast as “one of a kind.” It also pumped out a video highlighting Shaq’s “hilarious” pratfalls. Plus, a five-minute mini-doc, with celebs including Steph Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Magic Johnson, Mark Cuban, Snoop Dogg, and Dan Patrick testifying to the cultural impact of Inside the NBA. “Most people look forward to the post-game show as much as actually watching the game,” Curry, the four-time NBA champion with the Warriors, said in the video. Cuban calls the show “a big part of the heartbeat of the NBA.”
The same day, TNT asked its 5.6 million X followers, “What’s your favorite Inside the NBA memory?” One fan of the 25-year-old studio show simply responded, “All of them.” Another posted: “The one where the NBA keeps NBA on TNT.”
House of Highlights also got into the act, by firing off a post to its 56 million Instagram followers noting TNT had “matched” Amazon Prime Video’s $20 billion offer, worth $1.8 billion a year. “KEEP NBA HIGHLIGHTS ON HOH,” declared the post. “#KeepNBAonTNT.”
The grassroots digital effort is making an impact. Rapper Fat Joe tweeted Tuesday to his 950,000 followers: “My guys Charles Barkley, Kenny, Shaq and Ernie are irreplaceable! NBA please keep the TV dream team together for the culture #KeepNBAonTNT.” A couple of hours earlier, former NBA champ Iman Shumpert tweeted, “Man we can’t lose y’all! Basketball just wouldn’t be the same. #KeepNBAonTNT.” Using the same hashtag, former NBA star John Wall tweeted, “The culture needs Shaq, Chuck, Kenny and Ernie!!”
Meanwhile, Complex’s Instagram post on TNT’s underdog bid has generated more than 1,400 comments. “Ernie and the boys—or we riot,” wrote one fan. “I can’t imagine a world without the NBA on TNT,” wrote another.
The NBA has received completed contracts from incumbent Disney’s ABC/ESPN and NBC Sports and Prime that will pay $76 billion across 11 years. But TNT retains “matching” rights to third-party bids from Prime and NBC. On Monday, the network matched one of those offers—specifically Prime’s bid, according to my sources—placing the ball squarely in the NBA court.
The league is considering TNT’s counteroffer and could respond by the end of this week, I hear. The problem for TNT is the league still prefers Prime’s bid, according to my sources. If the NBA rejects TNT’s match, the network may have no choice but to sue, possibly arguing the league negotiated in bad faith.
Still, another source I spoke to about TNT’s social campaign believes it has a slim chance of succeeding. He regarded it as a Hail Mary attempt to drum up public sympathy. But it probably can’t hurt. WBD CEO David Zaslav doesn’t want to go down in sports media history as the suit who “lost” the NBA. Whatever the NBA decides, Zaslav can argue his cash-strapped company fought to keep rights, rather than meekly laying down to Amazon.
“I think [the NBA] is going to reject, or do whatever they can, to say no to TNT,” says the source. “This ends up in court.”
Michael McCarthy’s “Tuned In” column is at your fingertips every week with the latest insights and ongoings around sports media. If he hears it, you will, too.
This September, the column will come to life as a one-day event bringing together industry experts to discuss media trends and the future of fan viewership. The event will take place in New York on Sept. 10 at Times Center (242 W. 41st St.).
