Warner Bros. Discovery is in a tough spot.
The media giant is at risk of losing its prized rights to the NBA to Comcast and NBC after they offered $2.5 billion per year for a piece of the NBA pie.
The number would be more than double of the estimated $1.2 billion that WBD had been paying since 2016, which is about in line with the double in price that the NBA was looking for with its next deal. But this new deal is going, which would start for the 2025-26 NBA season, was supposed to rely on more partners to boost that number.
Related: Warner Bros. Discovery is in trouble after Comcast offers NBA a massive deal
ESPN is set to increase its payment from $1.5 billion to $2.6 billion per year — still a hefty increase, but still $400,000 per year short of doubling its previous payment.
The threat of Comcast has caused a drop of nearly 10% for WBD stock yesterday, another gut punch to a company which has seen its stock decline by 35% already in 2024.
But another looming question should WBD lose its rights to the NBA is: What will happen to the the award-winning "Inside The NBA" crew consisting of Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson?
The show has been with Turner since 1989, but this iteration of four was finalized when O'Neal joined the crew in 2011.
The four have become a staple of NBA programming, and the network has not made any changes to the core even as the likes of ESPN continue to shuffle around their crew seemingly every year.
According to a report by Sports Business Journal, WBD may still actually keep the crew because WBD may negotiate for a smaller package with the league that could keep Thursday night games on TNT. That would allow them to still keep the crew together — while still using them on other sports properties that they air like "The Match."
However, Puck founder Matt Belloni suggested on an episode of "The Town" podcast on Monday, April 29 that if WBD does not retain any rights, the "Inside The NBA" crew could be poached by one of the other companies that has the NBA rights.
“My prediction is that Inside the NBA, the Turner studio show that everybody loves, that will not exclusively air on TNT after the 2024-25 season," Belloni said. "It’s either going to be on Amazon, or it’s going to be on TNT and another one of those outlets, Amazon or NBC.”
Belloni also believes that Amazon would have the money to have poach the crew.
That could definitely happen because Barkley himself has alluded to the world that Turner does not keep the NBA. Barkley didn't rule out leaving Turner after its current NBA rights end, following a specific condition.
"I wouldn’t go by myself,” Barkley said. “And I would find it hard to go without Ernie, to be honest with you. Obviously me, Kenny and Shaq are close, but Ernie is the guy. So I would have to look at if they were gonna bring those guys, but also if they had other guys in mind who to partner with."
While it wold likely cost a massive sum to bring in the whole crew, it would likely make complete sense to have them all together to ensure that the magic does not disappear should they go elsewhere.
Related: The harsh reality behind the shockingly low WNBA contracts
