We finally might have the answer to who will get the rights for the next season of the NBA. With every passing day the future of Inside the NBA looks bleak. Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley have previously hoped that the agreement would be finalized soon but according to the latest reports that might not happen.

Previous reports from Front Office Sorts stated that TNT might still be in the picture due to options for a new structure. With the Option B package TNT has a clause to match the offer. However, according to the latest reports from Sports Business Journal, TNT might not be able to afford it.

The valuation of packages has also gone up, per the reports. The league is in the stage of formalizing the contract with the deal being divided into 3 packages. For package A, ESPN will ultimately pay $2.8B and will include NBA Finals, a conference final, weekly primetime games, the WNBA, and likely shared international rights. Package C for Amazon’s deal is believed to be worth between $1.8B and $2B, according to reports. It will feature the Emirates In-Season Tournament, the SoFi Play-In Tournament, first-round playoff games, the WNBA, and international rights. And the package B might go to NBC due to WBD being in $40B debt.

WBD had a debt of $ 41,889 million after 2023-12-31. After the first quarter end of this year, the debt still amounts to $39,148 million. So there is a possibility that the Inside the NBA crew might have to look for new jobs.

Shaquille and Co. to hunt for new jobs?

According to reports, even though TNT has the right to match, they might have to pay excess to regain the rights. Since TNT lacks over-the-air infrastructure like the NBC, CEO David Zaslav will have to pay extra. The current package B worth is $2.6B annually — up from a reported $2.5B.

Zaslav will either have to match the offer by overpaying or have to pass on the offer entirely. Per sources, there is a third option that he might consider which is to fight the NBA in court over the definition of a match. The saga started when WBD refused to pay the $2.4B to retain the rights and now it seems they might have to overpay any which way.

‘Shaq’ and Barkley previously have hinted they might find new jobs. Now the deal is in its final stages we will eventually find out if it is truly the end of ‘Inside the NBA’.