With NBA rights in jeopardy, TNT has inked a deal with ESPN to broadcast the early games of the College Football Playoff starting in the 2024 season.
TNT Sports announces the news A five-year deal was signed with ESPN on Wednesday that will run through the 2028 season. Under the deal, TNT will sublicense to ESPN the rights to broadcast two first-round playoff games in each of the next five seasons. TNT will then acquire the rights to broadcast two quarterfinal games each year for the remainder of the contract, starting with the 2026 season.
The news comes ahead of a newly adopted 12-team CFP format that will first be implemented after the 2024 regular season. As part of the new format, ESPN was awarded a contract extension as the exclusive rights holder for CFP broadcasts through the 2031 season for an average rights fee of $1.3 billion per season. Currently, ESPN shares the rights with TNT.
Under the new format, the top four seeded teams will receive first-round byes. Teams seeded 5-12 will play in the opening round. Broadcast of those four games will be split between ESPN and TNT. Starting in 2026, the following four quarterfinal games will also be split between the two networks. ESPN will then have exclusive broadcast of the semifinals and national championship game. Terms of the deal were not announced.
What will TNT broadcasting look like in the future?
The new game comes as TNT's NBA rights are at stake, a development that could have a major impact on the network's on-air product. TNT Sports focuses on his NBA coverage, and many of the broadcast talents focus on coverage of the league.
The NBA has formalized media rights deals with Disney/ESPN, NBC and Amazon, according to a report from Sports Business Journal on Wednesday, a development that puts TNT's NBA rights at risk through the 2024-25 season, even after its contract with the NBA ends.
TNT's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, will have the option to match NBC's bid to retain the NBA rights, an option that could reportedly lead to legal action involving embattled CEO David Zaslav.
Losing NBA broadcast rights would likely mean the end of beloved studio show “Inside the NBA” and leave in doubt the professional fates of hosts Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal, as well as in-game play-by-play announcers such as Kevin Harlan and Brian Anderson.
