The NBA Finals are in full swing, but behind the scenes, the NBA is negotiating its next media rights deal that will cement the league’s place in the sports media landscape for the next decade.
Reports have indicated that the NBA is expected to sign a new deal with Disney’s DIS ESPN/ABC, where the NBA Finals have aired since 2002. The league is also expected to sign deals with Amazon (AMZN) and NBC, which would leave incumbent Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) as the odd man out.
WBD, which airs games on TNT and has the iconic “Inside The NBA” studio show, could still carve out a fourth package with the league or match a deal with one of the league’s new partners.
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But while all of this is happening in the background, ESPN is broadcasting the NBA Finals — and is receiving some criticism for how its production is doing.
The most criticism it’s receiving is for its studio show, particularly its halftime show, and how little time its crew of Malika Andrews, Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon, Bob Myers, and Josh Hart have to dissect the game.
Awful Announcing posted a thread on X (formerly Twitter) about the Game 2 halftime show of ESPN, highlighting that Andrews even had to skip introductions of the crew before they gave an analysis that totaled less than two minutes.
Part 2/4: Host Malika Andrews notes “No time for introductions.”
Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon, Bob Myers and Josh Hart spend less than 2 minutes breaking down the first half. pic.twitter.com/VMwfHDIiix
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 10, 2024
That followed a Kia-sponsored highlighted reel that consisted of just one three-pointer from Luka Doncic before heading into the break.
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Part 3/4: Halftime Highlights — consisting of one Luka Dončić three-pointer. pic.twitter.com/rgjf1PkS9z
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 10, 2024
ESPN/ABC is put in a difficult sport when compared with TNT’s “Inside The NBA,” one of the most iconic studio shows in all of sports. But ESPN’s crew has not even been given the opportunity to put up a worthwhile product due to the lack of airtime.
This has caused plenty of folks on social media to call out ESPN.
Ziller: “… I’m always confused about why people are so critical of ESPN/ABC’s halftime show. There is no halftime show! It’s all ads and then a couple of soundbites. That’s it! It’s like being mad at the lack of a plot and character development in an Instagram Reel.”
— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) June 10, 2024
The ESPN halftime show really is wild. A solid 1 minute, 40 seconds of brief monologues before a long commercial break. Then a 19-second Q&A with Malika and Bob Myers before more commercials. Then, sounds of the game and back to Breen and the crew.
— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) June 10, 2024
The short spurts of airtime is made even more awkward because ESPN has a five-man crew. The addition of Hart, who is a current player on the New York Knicks, has cut the already limited time of big name media stars like Smith and Wilbon.
The crew itself has also changed significantly over the past few years, especially with the addition of Myers, who was an executive with the Golden State Warriors last season. NBA veteran Jalen Rose used to be a longtime member of the network’s studio show before he was let go by ESPN last summer along with a slew of other layoffs.
Related: NBA Commissioner apologizes to TNT workers for job uncertainty
All of that criticism of ESPN is compounded by its new NBA Finals broadcast team led by Mike Breen, a Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer.
Breen is joined by Doris Burke, the first woman to ever broadcast an NBA Finals on television, and rising media star JJ Redick. While the three are all massive names in the space, chemistry is still being built between the three as Burke only joined the crew at the start of the season while Redick was added in to replace Doc Rivers in February.
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