“We have one more year left. So I am a consummate professional, so I’m not going to go left or go right.” Unlike Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal maintained his professional stance on the new media rights deal. Currently, it’s a legal matter as WBD sued the league for not accepting their offer. Amid the commotion, the minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, highlighted the workings of today’s market.

During his appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast, Cuban spoke about how the NBA sponsorship was the last big money deal. So he was not surprised by the increase in the valuation, which would ultimately prove to be the reason for TNT to be falling behind in the race. “How do you keep linear TV alive?” Cuban questions, subtly highlighting the network’s desperation to get its hand on the deal. “You need sports and the NFL’s already locked up, so who’s next and so if you’re going to stay alive you needed us.”

With Amazon’s reported reach of 200 million monthly viewers and Peacock’s 22 million paid subscribers, the streaming platforms chiming in to carve out a space for themselves was only the right appeal for the league. “Like why would we not take that money? And I mean 51% goes to the players so they were happy about it too,” he adds. Well, it is a $76 billion deal to spread across 11 years.

TNT paid an average of $1.2 billion in its persisting 10-year deal with the league. However, as the new competition was brought in, WBD struggled to match the offers. They did not stop trying, though; even until the deal neared its closing. In late July, TNT offered $1.8 billion to match Amazon’s, only to be rejected two days later, eventually leading to a legal battle.

So when Mark Cuban noted the network falling behind in the race earlier this year, he had shared an out-of-the-box plan.

“My suggestion would be that they get diamond local rights and overlay the games on TBS for local broadcast.” The businessman stated that the WBD should pursue the local NBA rights currently held by Diamond Sports Group. Because they offer in-market NBA contests not being shown on national channels in 15 markets.

But it seems Warner Bros did not take him up for that offer. It was a big blow for Inside the NBA, loved enough to garner an average of over a million viewers on a daily. TNT had even surpassed the ESPN viewership record during playoffs in 2023. It was, hence, quite the place to be for Charles Barkley, leaving him in a fix over the unexpected shift.

Shaquille O’Neal’s best friend keeps changing his stance

“Yeah, you know, it’s going to be interesting after we lose the NBA after next year. Gonna have to figure out my life and what I’m looking for. I’m mainly concerned for the people I work with.” The 76ers legend was at the Auburn basketball program, helping them raise some funds.

“Obviously, if I want to continue, I’m going to have opportunities — which, I haven’t made a decision on that yet.” This statement once again confused fans about what Chuck was talking about. Because on many instances in the past, he has revealed that he took a $100 million pay cut to stay with the network.

With the emergence of the new production house, Barkley seems to have found the solution. ‘Round Mound Media’ would also prioritize culture and society content alongside sports. Many even ask for The Inside Show to be independently produced so that it can be licensed to the highest bidder. Shaq, though, hasn’t spoken much about his plans for the future.

“Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.”