Warner Bros. Discovery, TNT Sports, and the NBA have cut the cord on their NBA TV partnership.
TNT Sports has produced content for NBA TV since its launch as the first league television network back in 2008. However, last year, the NBA reached a new 11-year, roughly $76 billion media rights deal, which awarded its broadcast rights to Amazon, ESPN, and NBCUniversal.
Though the NBA and WBD reached an agreement to continue producing its Inside the NBA and other content for ESPN—as well as digital NBA content through Bleacher Report and House of Highlights—an internal memo obtained by Front Office Sports from TNT Sports CEO Luis Silberwasser indicates that TNT Sports and the NBA “mutually decided to part ways” from the NBA TV collaboration.
“We made several proposals to continue to provide services and operate the NBA TV network and related digital assets. However, we were unable to agree on a path forward that recognized the value of our expertise, quality content, and operational excellence that our fans and partners have come to expect from TNT Sports,” Silberwasser said in the memo to TNT Sports employees Friday.
The memo indicates that the league will take over programming and operations for NBA TV and NBA.com on Oct. 1.
That’s initially how NBA TV began in 1999, when it was NBA.com TV airing content filmed in league studios in Secaucus, N.J. After launching as a cable channel in 2008, TNT Sports packed it with shows, including NBA Gametime Live, Hardwood Classics, and rebroadcasts of Inside the NBA.
WBD gives upfront some HBO Max prestige as everything from sales to TNT Sports gets an upgrade.
But after its restructured content deal with the NBA, WBD indicated a different direction for TNT Sports. The WBD upfront highlighted new properties, including the Unrivaled women’s basketball league and Big 12 and Big East conference college sports.
Even as WBD announced a split into two companies—with its cable-heavy Global Networks division targeted for layoffs—TNT Sports touted robust ad sales for new properties, including the French Open at Roland-Garros and the FIFA Club World Cup soccer tournament.
Emphasizing a sports portfolio that includes the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, and U.S. Soccer just ahead of the 2026 World Cup, TNT Sports has spent much of the last year featuring its diverse rights inventory and on-air talent while measuring expectations of its future with the NBA.
TNT Sports follows Inside the NBA playbook into future coverage as stars like Adam Lefkoe, Lauren Jbara, and Jimmy Rollins stay.
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