“Inside the NBA,” which features the quartet of Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal, will appear on ESPN and ABC starting with the 2025-26 season via a partnership with TNT Sports and the NBA, it was announced Monday.
Except when the show goes on the road, TNT Sports will continue to independently produce “Inside the NBA” from its Atlanta-based studios over the term of the agreement. Johnson, Barkley, Smith and O’Neal will remain with the show.
The show, which has won 21 Sports Emmy Awards, will appear on ESPN and ABC surrounding high-profile live events, including ESPN’s pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals on ABC, conference finals, NBA playoffs, all ABC games after Jan. 1, Christmas Day, opening week, the final week of the season and other marquee live events.
“Inside the NBA is universally recognized as one of the best and most culturally impactful shows in sports,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “We have long admired the immensely talented team and are thrilled to add their chemistry and knowledge to our robust set of NBA studio offerings to super-serve NBA fans like never before. The addition of Inside the NBA further solidifies ESPN as the preeminent destination for sports fans.”
The 2025-26 season marks the first of ESPN’s 11-year rights extension with the NBA.
As part of the agreement, TNT Sports will also begin showing 13 Big 12 football and 15 men’s basketball games next season as part of a sublicense with ESPN. TNT will air two College Football Playoff games beginning this season, also under a sublicense with ESPN.
ESPN will continue to produce “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today.”
“At TNT Sports, we take great pride in our Inside the NBA show and know its success is both a reflection of the iconic talent on set and the incredible people behind the scenes who consistently demonstrate the creativity and craft of our great team,” TNT Sports CEO Luis Silberwasser said in a statement. “We are thrilled to continue to produce Inside the NBA for ESPN and ABC, ensuring fans are able to keep enjoying the magic of this show during the NBA season.”
The agreement is part of a settlement after Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports, sued the NBA in New York state court in August after the league did not accept the company’s matching offer for one of the packages in its new 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.
The settlement gives TNT Sports, Bleacher Report and House of Highlights a global license for NBA content with no rights fee for the next 11 years.
“The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning ‘Inside the NBA’ is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms.”
“Inside the NBA” started in 1989. Johnson became the host in 1990, while Smith joined full-time in 1998. Barkley came aboard in 2000, followed by O’Neal in 2011. Barkley signed an extension with WBD in August.
Warner Bros. Discovery will also continue its relationship with the league’s digital operations, including NBA.com, for five seasons. TNT Sports and the NBA have jointly managed NBA Digital since 2009.
Even though TNT Sports will not be airing games in the United States beginning next season, it does have rights to air a full package of games in select countries, including those in Latin America (excluding Brazil and Mexico) as well as Poland, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Turner Sports has had an NBA package since 1984 and games have aired on TNT since the network launched in 1988. That will end after this season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
