Is NBC getting played, or is the NBA actually considering a seismic shift?

As always, the money will answer.

As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, executives at NBC Sports have prepared a massive broadcasting rights offer to the NBA in hopes of shoving out longtime hoops home Turner Sports. (Yes, TNT is the home of the most popular and successful studio show in the known sports universe, Inside the NBA.)

NBC’s reported bid of $2.5 billion per year more than doubles what TNT is paying the league under its current deal. That isn’t an offer, it’s a shark attack. And it shifts the attention to Turner’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, to see how close it’ll come to matching.

Prediction: Not that close, since Warner CEO David Zaslav was quoted in 2022 as saying, “We don’t need the NBA,” and has been on a cost-cutting jag across the company’s various entertainment divisions for years.

But where does that leave the rest of us?

First: It doesn’t really matter. We talk all the time about game productions and play-by-play kings and top analysts, but the reality is that every major player in the sports media world has a roster of talent capable of being adapted to fit a need – in this case, the NBA on NBC.

As it happens, as noted by Front Office Sports, NBC already has Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle under contract. Both have extensive hoops broadcasting experience, including the NBA, and Tirico is the voice of the network’s most significant sports ventures, period.

Beyond them, I wouldn’t waste a moment wondering whether NBC would commit two and a half billion dollars a year to the NBA and then fail to assemble a rock-solid game-day crew, from production through to talent. That isn’t going to happen.

If the Comcast-owned company wins the NBA bid, you will see a thoroughly finished NBA product. Maybe – over time – that product would include some of the voices you now associate with the Turner crew, people like Kevin Harlan, Brian Anderson and Ian Eagle. Top talent usually finds its proper home.

It also matters less than it ever did where we happen to go to consume our sports content. We’re more nimble as viewers than we used to be – not necessarily by choice, but certainly by adaptation.

If the league powers suddenly moved the NFL off of, say, FOX Sports, I’d be a little baffled as to why, but I’d have no trouble locating the games wherever they did land. Same with the NBA and Turner/TNT, despite their long history together.

NBC has plenty of its own history with pro basketball, having held rights from 1990 to 2002. It also knows how to sweeten the deal: In addition to wanting regular season and playoff games, the bid includes plans to broadcast in prime time twice a week. You can do that when you still own a network.

Warner Bros. Discovery has the contractual right to match any third-party bid, but that may not matter. The company also had an exclusive negotiating window in which to strike a new deal with the NBA, but that window closed last week without a contract.

And, really, what we’re talking about is simply a rich redistribution of the NBA’s assets – the same thing that is happening all across the sports media landscape. The NBC deal, if it happens, will include streaming rights through NBCUniversal’s Peacock app, which adds to the NBA’s exposure through ESPN/ABC and its likely new streaming partner Amazon Prime.

For all these reasons, it’s easy to take NBC’s interest in the NBA seriously, and to understand why the league would in turn negotiate in good faith. If Warner Bros. Discovery doesn’t have the stomach for such a huge uptick in its rights fees, NBC and its related apps make for a soft landing and a prime-time destination.

Again – back to us. The truth is, a move like this would leave most of us wondering only one thing: What happens to Inside the NBA.

Bad news there: The reality is, by contract, that show belongs to TNT, not anybody else. If Charles, Shaq, Ernie and Kenny wanted to take their show on the road, they’d have to have some serious lawyering done. And Turner has other sports properties, like the NCAA tournament, the NHL and NASCAR.

Chuck on NASCAR? It could work. First, though, we’ll have to see if the money talks – and what it says.

When Shae Cornette hears the synonymous introduction associated with the SportsCenter program, it functions as a point of no return sans the negative connotation. Since she has been working as a full-time anchor for the ESPN flagship program over the last several months, Cornette has worked to come into her own on the show through delivering sports news, analysis and highlights to a global audience.

Cornette is part of a lineup of SportsCenter anchors that continue to keep the program relevant and safeguard it from becoming regarded as an anachronistic relic of the past. Although viewers can receive highlights near instantaneously through digital media platforms, the tradition of SportsCenter and innovation taking place on the show has allowed it to continue to thrive in the current media ecosystem.

Cornette regards the role as a genuine dream job, especially as someone who grew up watching the show and had an early penchant for sports. There are several hosts who adeptly integrate their personalities into the program, but it took time for Cornette to reach that point where she can speak without a teleprompter as a parachute.

“In the beginning when I first started filling in on SportsCenter, I did not ad-lib very much at all,” Cornette said. “I’ll be the first to admit it – I was afraid. I didn’t want to be the one to blow up SportsCenter. Now I have a little bit more ownership on the show obviously because it’s my full-time gig and I truly am now a SportsCenter anchor, so I feel more comfortable and I have a little bit more liberties to be able to say things or ad-lib.”

Displaying personality to the viewer and giving them an incentive to tune in that spans beyond highlights or the heralded SportsCenter Top 10 has resulted in success for the property. In fact, ESPN recently reported year-over-year viewership growth across all the editions of the show. Part of that can be attributed to the relatability of the hosts, some of whom have decided to openly express their allegiances to certain sports teams. In essence, the people working on the show are legitimate fans of what they are covering, demonstrating passion and dedication to the craft.

“I’ve said multiple times on air, ‘Hey guys, this is a few good months for me and my Bears fandom to actually shine because after the NFL Draft, I don’t really know where it’s going to go,’” Cornette said. “I can make those kinds of jokes now, and I think that’s why SportsCenter has evolved in such a cool way where personalities can be shown, and I love that.”

While Cornette has always been a sports fan, she did not initially realize that it would be at the center of her professional endeavors. Instead, she originally wanted to be a marine biologist until taking a public speaking class at Indiana University. After giving an ad-lib about a chair in the classroom for more than four minutes, her professor recognized her propensity for conversation and suggested she consider pursuing a career in broadcast journalism. At the same time, Cornette became interested in college basketball where she regarded the game as resembling a religion, and everything gradually began to fall into place.

“I went around asking students what they had thought about what was going on with Kelvin Sampson, and I sent it into Big Ten Network and they ran it because they just didn’t have a lot of talent,” Cornette said. “They were brand-new; it was a boots-on-the-ground situation. I’m sure I was horrible, but it was something that they could use and they could run.”

Cornette spent time materializing connections and capitalizing on professional opportunities, interning at both Showtime and MTV while she was a college student. Moreover, she served as a production assistant for Chicago Bears games broadcast on CBS. Upon her graduation with a dual degree in journalism and kinesiology, Cornette spent time seizing any opportunity she could land, including as a field reporter for football games on the Big Ten Network. Additionally, she was a correspondent for The Chicago Huddle Bears pregame show on ABC7 Chicago and both hosted and reported for Campus Insiders and 120 Sports.

As time went on, Cornette began to cover the Bears on a variety of different platforms, including becoming the first woman to host a show predominantly about the team on FOX 32 Chicago, which was called Bears Unleashed. The station named her its beat reporter for the team where she appeared on newscasts to discuss the team and also hosted pregame and postgame coverage. During her formative years covering the day-to-day occurrences of the team and being in the locker room, she worked to gain respect from her peers and make her voice heard.

“I remember when I first started going into locker rooms or being in scrums and things like that, and I would try to ask a question, and 85 dudes who have been writers for 50 million years would speak over me, and I used to get so frustrated,” Cornette said. “You think that happens now? No way. Maybe one person will speak over you if you’re new just to get you acclimated, but it’s much more, ‘You’ve got a question. You go next.’”

At the same time, Cornette also met her future husband, former Notre Dame basketball player Jordan Cornette, while they were both working at Campus Insiders. Jordan was the co-host of Kap & Company on ESPN 1000, but he eventually relocated to Bristol, Conn. to work at ESPN on television. Shae ended up being selected to assume the co-host role and began co-hosting the afternoon program alongside David Kaplan in 2018. The invaluable experience spending time on an audio medium contributed to her evolution as a broadcaster and ability to connect with the audience.

“You can’t hide in radio,” Cornette said. “If you don’t know what you’re talking about, everyone will know in five seconds. It just allows you to be able to have a more open dialogue about things that you’re maybe not as comfortable talking about.”

Shae Cornette eventually made the transition to host on ESPN Radio’s national platform after working on SiriusXM NFL Radio throughout the week. Aside from the ability to speak to an audience en masse, Cornette valued the opportunity to work alongside her husband, Jordan, on GameDay during the football season in afternoon drive. Becoming the first married couple to co-host a national ESPN Radio program, there were inherent advantages to the job related to preparation and chemistry. The audience was hearing something different, a partnership that had been cemented through friendship and subsequent matrimony, and became enamored with their dynamic on the air.

“Whenever anyone asks us about working together, it’s what everyone thinks it is,” Cornette said. “If we’re fighting in real life, we’re fighting on the air and everyone knows it. You can’t hide it, and that’s okay – we’re married – it’s fine, and I think it actually just made us a little bit more relatable.”

As her career continued to flourish and led to a daily television show with her husband, SportsNation on ESPN+, Cornette utilized her versatility and ability to adapt in order to thrive. Along with her early repetitions in sports media, she had also explored the world of entertainment and taken part in several ventures within the space. Some of these included filling in on Morning Dose on The CW and hosting for Celeb.TV. With her hosting endeavors across various ESPN platforms, she was cognizant of the fact that the sports media company does more than solely inform its viewers about the latest events in sports.

“ESPN is not just sports; we’re there to entertain as well,” Cornette said. “So if I can draw parallels to anything that is going on in the entertainment world or phrases that people are saying nowadays, I think that keeps us relevant.”

Over her four years at ESPN, Cornette has filled in on several of the network’s radio and television studio programs in addition to its coverage of college sports. During her time with the company though, she has not reported as much as she had on other events in the past. The dichotomy between the two occupations became more clear to her while in Chicago, and she ultimately gravitated more towards hosting programming.

“I love reporting, especially for a team that I’m passionate about or an event,” Cornette said. “I really like it – I like being the eyes and ears of the viewer [for] things that they can’t see and do – but with hosting, I feel like you have a much greater opportunity to show personality, show knowledge [and] give unique perspective. And look, I know SportsCenter isn’t the most personality-driven show, but I’m trying really hard to inject that where I can, and there have been a lot of people that have paved the way for that.”

Cornette was recently named a full-time SportsCenter anchor and is intrigued by the unpredictability of her days in the studio. Since the program covers all sports, she and the production team need to remain aware about events happening in real time. Additionally, the SportsCenter Top 10 provides a lens into leagues and games that gives them time to shine in the spotlight. The key for Cornette is simply slowing down, feedback she has been told for years and has worked to implement.

“I naturally have a fast energy about me, which can be good and can be bad, but I definitely try and be a little bit more casual and conversational,” Cornette said. “Ultimately, I want that to be relatable.”

For the last several months, Cornette has co-hosted afternoon editions of the program and is rarely behind the desk alone. The preparation process leading up to a typical program involves watching games, reading articles, searching social media and reviewing statistics. Cornette also implements sports talk radio into her daily commute to the SportsCenter studio and listens to a variety of different marketplaces.

“That’s how I kind of soak it in,” Cornette said, “and then when I get into work and I look through my rundown, I’ll go back and re-watch highlights if I haven’t seen something.”

There exist moments where SportsCenter anchors have to forsake the rundown in order to cover breaking news. Cornette recently announced the death of former NFL running back O.J. Simpson. The show broke its regular programming with a breaking news bumper where Cornette relayed the information and read a statement from the family. SportsCenter then continued the discussion with Outside the Lines host and ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap. While Cornette did not foresee this moment taking place during her program, she did her best to handle it with poise and aplomb.

“When the unknown comes in and keeps you on your toes, it keeps me constantly having to know what’s going on obviously in the sports world [and] constantly having to understand every sport, which can be difficult sometimes,” Cornette said, “but I think that’s what makes us good at our jobs.”

Conversely, there is news that does not always break amid an edition of SportsCenter that she hopes comes to light while she is hosting. As a Chicago Bears fan and former reporter covering the team, she was hoping that news surrounding quarterback Justin Fields would end up breaking on the show. While the topic was evidently discussed on SportsCenter upon his trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers, information surrounding the transaction was not divulged while Cornette was hosting.

“There’s days where you just hope for that kind of news because it’s so fun and invigorating,” Cornette explained. “You get to, in real time with the viewer, share the excitement of this breaking news and what’s going to happen, and we’re all learning it together.”

Advances in technology and alterations in consumer habits have required different companies to evaluate their performances in the marketplaces and make necessary adjustments. Cornette understands that SportsCenter cannot be a show that is all highlight driven; rather, there needs to be an incentive to tune in that goes beyond its initial premise.

“It’s just not your average sports show that is niche,” Cornette said. “It covers a little bit of everything for everyone, and I think that’s why people tune in because they want to hear what is going on in [various sports]. The fact that SportsCenter continues to stretch its wings over so many sports while also having personality and also still having its core fundamentals – those highlights and whatnot – is what makes it, I think, a special program.”

Cornette feels motivated to give extra effort and perform at a high level from her family, but she also feels she is proving herself on a daily basis. Whenever she is slated to anchor an edition of the program, she tries to represent herself and ESPN with professionalism and proficiency. As she continues working as a full-time SportsCenter anchor, Cornette looks to remain dedicated to the program and convey relatability to the audience. Beyond the SportsCenter property, she aspires to host live event coverage within the large rights portfolio that has been amassed and maintained by ESPN over the years.

“I would love to have that same sort of live television feeling at a live event now through the ESPN channel,” Cornette said. “So I’m hoping that that maybe will be something that comes in my future, but for right now, I’m just trying to nail the daily grind.”

As the lights turn on and eminent jingle resonates with the audience, Cornette continues to carry the legacy and credibility of SportsCenter that has been built and retained over generations. Every day she takes part in the show, she appreciates the ability to highlight stellar performances, uncover meaningful stories and exhibit the breadth of ESPN’s portfolio in the sports media space.

“I feel like I’m proving to myself every day that I can do this,” Cornette said. “…[T]his really was a dream job of mine, and every day that I come out of that studio feeling like I did something better or did something brand new and I did a good job at it is really a fulfilling feeling.”

It was beyond time for CBS to do something. I’m in my early 40s and am probably among the younger people in the audience that remember Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason actually playing in the NFL. 

The NFL Today felt dated and at times even disconnected from modern football. Even Nate Burleson, who has taken on a more prominent role in recent years, hasn’t been on the field in a decade. Bidding Simms and Esiason adieu and bringing Matt Ryan out of the booth and into the studio certainly makes The NFL Today feel a little more relevant, but does it actually make the show better? 

CBS will now offer viewers James Brown and the quartet of Ryan, Burleson, Bill Cowher and JJ Watt during the pregame, postgame and halftime. I would argue that while Ryan proved himself a capable analyst, I never found him overly compelling. Actually, I don’t find anyone in the group particularly compelling.

The names and faces may be different, but the problem is still the same. I’m not convinced that the show is more than just background noise.

FOX built FOX NFL Sunday into what it is by hiring opinionated people and then letting the team marinate together. Sure, they cook now, but even before the show left its competition behind, there was a reason to tune in. Terry Bradshaw was larger than life, Howie Long was outspoken and opinionated, and Jimmie Johnson brought gravitas. The mixture proved it worked before people like Michael Strahan and Rob Gronkowski were added. 

Even after a major changing of the guard, ESPN never lost sight of the fact that what brings eyeballs to Sunday NFL Countdown is unique perspectives. That’s why the current variation is built around Randy Moss and Rex Ryan.

CBS may have been missing that ingredient, but it never seemed to be because they didn’t have the guy. Boomer Esiason wouldn’t be on top of morning radio in New York for as long as he has if he were not compelling and capable of entertaining an audience. You could see his willingness to channel what the audience was thinking during halftime of the 2022 AFC Championship Game when CBS’s halftime show was drowned out by an on-field concert from country artist Walker Hays. For some reason, those types of moments were a treat and not the norm. It felt like Esiason was reigned in or being told not to do too much.

CBS’s problem is CBS. The whole network just feels like it’s operating in a time warp. Bombast is frowned upon or reigned in. In the case of the new lineup of The NFL Today, it feels like an effort was made to avoid it entirely.

Nate Burleson is great on the Nickelodeon games. He brings so much energy and really leans into the fun. The version of he we get on The NFL Today doesn’t feel especially different from who he is on CBS This Morning, a show that is meant to serve as background noise. That’s a problem, and for CBS, being comfortable with being background noise is a problem that feels all too common.

This new The NFL Today lineup feels milquetoast, but that’s kinda what CBS Sports does now. Its top broadcaster is bland. Its top college football broadcast felt like it was an afterthought. Even when it comes to the Final Four, the network farms being fun and interesting out to the Inside the NBA crew.

No one on the show is a problem individually. The problem is the combination of Brown, Burleson, Cowher, Ryan and Watt. Who can I count on to make me laugh or raise an eyebrow? 

Matt Ryan is a capable analyst, but if he’s the quarterback on the show, shouldn’t the coach be someone like Pete Carrol? Nate Burleson is an excellent broadcaster, but if he’s the receiver on the show, shouldn’t CBS have filled the QB role with someone like Cam Newton or Ben Roethlisberger? 

Kudos to CBS for recognizing that the age and distance away from their time on the field made The NFL Today crew feel disconnected from the game. The show had to get younger and it did. But getting younger is all it did. It doesn’t feel like the network solved its pregame show’s biggest problem.