Amazon plans to produce its NBA coverage internally; ESPN does not have plans to modify “Inside the NBA”; NBC Sports will remain on its spun-off cable networks, and more.
Amazon to handle NBA, WNBA production internally
Amazon Prime Video is planning to handle all its production for its NBA and WNBA telecasts internally, as opposed to partnering with a separate media company, Prime Video sports executive Jeff Kaiser said at Sports Business Journal‘s media innovators conference. Amazon has used staff from NBC Sports to produce its Thursday Night Football telecasts and will co-produce its NASCAR races with TNT Sports. The company has been building out teams of game and studio production personnel to handle its coverage of as many as 93 games each season, which will begin next October.
Studio coverage will originate from a new facility in at the Amazon MGM Studios in Los Angeles. The TNF studio team travels to a game site every week, so Amazon has not aired a traditional indoor studio show during its run.
ESPN not planning changes to “Inside,” sets Mickey Mouse Christmas simulcast
ESPN does not have plans to add Stephen A. Smith or other ESPN personalities to the cast of “Inside the NBA” when the network’s licensing deal begins next fall, according to ESPN President Burke Magnus in a podcast interview with SI Media’s Jimmy Traina. Magnus said of the show, “We don’t want to change it, we don’t want to add new talent to it, we don’t want to really do anything to it.”
Magnus also shared that the network has not selected a second analyst to join the NBA Finals broadcast team of Mike Breen and Doris Burke. As has been previously reported, Richard Jefferson, Jay Bilas, and Tim Legler are among those in the running for the role, although a two-person booth remains a possibility.
ESPN also announced it will produce a Mickey Mouse-themed animated alternate telecast of the Spurs-Knicks NBA game on Christmas Day. The latest in Disney’s series of live cartoon sports will air on ESPN2, ESPN+, and Disney+. The presentation, titled “Dunk the Halls”, will be fictionally set at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World resort with Drew Carter and Monica McNutt on the call alongside sideline reporter Daisy Duck. Ryan Ruocco, Cory Alexander, and Cassidy Hubbarth will call the traditional telecast.
Furthermore, ESPN announced that all five Christmas Day games will be simulcast across ABC, ESPN, ESPN+, and (for the first time) Disney+, in line with ESPN’s recent announcement that more ESPN content would be made available on a direct-to-consumer basis to Disney+ subscribers.
NBC Sports will stay on cable after spinoff
NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said Wednesday that the sports coverage on Comcast’s cable networks will remain even as the networks are spun off to create SpinCo. Speaking at Sports Business Journal‘s media innovators conference, Cordella said, “From a sports perspective, the partners that we have on cable assets like Golf Channel and USA, we’re going to fulfill every obligation.”
Golf Channel’s weekly year-round coverage of events from the PGA Tour, LPGA, DP World Tour, and PGA Tour Champions, is expected to remain, as is USA Network’s coverage of the Premier League. A majority of NBC’s NASCAR schedule and select WNBA will also air on USA Network as part of recently-announced deals.
Plus: NBA ASG, Unrivaled, NHL
–The 2025 NBA All-Star game is expected to move to a pickup-style format with target scores, according to ESPN. The four-team format had been indicated in previous reporting, but the tournament is now expected to feature two semifinal games up to 40 points, followed by a championship game of 25 points. The semifinal matchups would feature the victor of Friday’s Rising Stars game joining three eight-player All-Star teams.
–WNBA stars A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark have reportedly declined seven-figure invitations to the new “Unrivaled” women’s 3×3 pro basketball league. According to Sports Business Journal, Clark’s offer was around $1 million plus equity in the league, and Wilson’s exceeded that. The 36-player league will proceed with two “wild card” spots to be filled prior to the start of the inaugural season, which begins on TNT on January 17.
–The Nashville Predators announced Wednesday FanDuel Sports Newtork will simulcast three games over-the-air on WTVF. The team joins the Panthers and the NBA’s Bucks and Thunder in simulcasting a handful of games, which was a provision of Diamond’s bankruptcy proceedings.
