NBA on the verge of showing TNT the door in favor of NBC

As the NBA playoffs rage on, the TV broadcast might change in the long-term future. According to the Sports Business Journal, "sources continue to insist Comcast’s NBCUniversal will capture the third NBA package." This could be at the expense of TNT NBA's production as Turner Sports and Adam Silver continue to engage in bad blood.

The league could reportedly end up with an NBC annual bid of $2.5 billion. As stated by the journal, Warner Brothers, TNT's parent company, has been saying that they can "match it" but they will need to raise the bid an additional $300 million dollars as CEO David Zaslow's bad blood with the NBA has caused the league to explore other routes for their TV partners.

Per the report, NBC would take over Sunday Night Basketball games after the NFL season is over, the second round and conference finals package that TNT has in addition to possibly "taking over ESPN's Friday Night slate." NBC is no stranger to producing the broadcast of NBA games as the legacy network had the broadcasting rights to the NBA from 1990 to 2002.

With NBC possibly taking over TNT's NBA TV production, how should NBCUniversal production look if they can land this deal?

What would it mean for NBC to take NBA broadcast rights from TNT?

The league and NBC have already revealed that their broadcast will be called "Basketball Night in America" similar to the production that they had in the 90s. Of course, NBCUniversal must run the same theme song that NBC ran when they previously had the rights to broadcast the NBA.

If NBC lands the TV deal, the powers at be should look to target ways to help their streaming service Peacock. While the network likely needs to have over-the-air broadcast for the short-term future, the broadcasting giant should look into ways that they can combine their entertainment IPs with the NBA.

This could mean having a broadcast that is aired from inside the pretend universe of The Office or another show that airs on Peacock. (Imagine John Krasinski as Jim and Rainn Wilson as Dwight broadcast where they commentate on the game as their characters)

It would be useful for NBCUniversal to do this as they could promote a show that their streaming service offers while finding new viewers for the show and the game of basketball. Whatever NBC ends up doing, it looks likely that the league will end up doing business with NBC rather than Turner Sports.