Charles Barkley could be the most sought-after free agent if he hits the market next year.
As Warner Bros. Discovery battles the NBA in court to regain media rights to the league in 2025, suitors are already lining up to sign Barkley, the company’s biggest star in the sport.
ESPN’s chief content officer, Burke Magnus, said Tuesday that the network would be interested in bringing Barkley to the network if he were available. Asked at the Front Office Sports conference in New York whether he would see the world with Barkley at ESPN, Magnus said he would.
“Yeah,” Magnus said at the “Tuned In” conference. “That would be a perfect world. … I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in Charles. The whole industry is interested.”
NBC President Mark Lazerus said there is interest in Barkley as well. NBC will broadcast the NBA next season.
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Another question is whether Barkley would be interested in ESPN or NBC. The Basketball Hall of Famer, who has been a part of TNT’s iconic “Inside the NBA” studio show since 2000, said in August that he would remain with TNT Sports after losing the NBA. Barkley is in the third year of a 10-year, $210 million contract.
“I love my TNT Sports family,” Barkley, 61, said in a statement released in August. “My top priority has always been our people and keeping everyone together as long as possible.
“We have the most amazing people, and they are the best at what they do,” his statement continued. “I look forward to continuing to work with them on our current shows and the new shows we’ll be developing together in the future. This is the only place for me.”
In July, Disney, NBC, and Amazon won bids for the NBA’s next media deal, which will start with the 2025-26 season and last for 11 years. The three companies’ contracts are worth a total of $77 billion. WBD failed to get a share of the rights and sued the NBA to enforce the matching rights in the current contract.
The lawsuit is currently pending in New York state court, with a trial scheduled for April.
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(Photo: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images, The Match)
