Doug Collins is leaving television once again, Tiki and Ronde Barber will work a game together on FOX, and a handful of NBA teams lost money in the first season of the league’s massive TV deal.
Collins Leaving TV Yet Again
ESPN NBA analyst Doug Collins has left the network to join the Chicago Bulls as a senior adviser, it was announced Tuesday. Collins had been with ESPN since 2013, first as a studio analyst on NBA Countdown and the past two years as a game analyst. This is the fourth time that Collins has left television for a position in the NBA, after previously leaving Turner Sports for the Pistons in 1995, NBC for the Wizards in 2001, and Turner again for the Sixers in 2010. [ESPN.com 9.19]
Barber Twins to Call Game For Fox
Fox Sports announced Tuesday that it will pair NFL analyst Ronde Barber and his twin brother, former NBC Sports analyst Tiki Barber, on the October 1 matchup of their former teams, Giants-Buccaneers. The Barber twins will work with Ronde’s usual partner, Kenny Albert. It is not the first time that brothers have worked together in the broadcast booth, with ESPN often pairing John and Patrick McEnroe on tennis coverage. [Fox Sports PR]
Several NBA Teams Lost Money in First Year of TV Deal
Citing confidential financial records, ESPN.com reported Tuesday that nine NBA teams — the Cavaliers, Spurs, Hawks, Nets, Pistons, Grizzlies, Bucks, Magic and Wizards — lost money during the 2016-17 season, the first season of the league’s new $2.7 billion/year television deal. The Pistons incurred the steepest losses at $45.1 million, with the Nets close behind (-44.3M). The Cavaliers and Spurs, by far the most successful of the teams, only lost money after revenue sharing deductions. The losses are not in themselves significant, as franchise valuations have skyrocketed since the TV deal was announced in 2014 and the league has yet to play a single game under its new collective bargaining agreement. Explanations range from poor local media deals for small market teams to insufficient revenue sharing. [ESPN.com 9.19]
