Charles Barkley calls out ‘greedy’ players, owners for not thinking about fans

1. With the NBA finalizing new television deals with ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon, Charles Barkley did an interview with CNBC on Thursday in which he lamented the new world of streaming.

All sports are shredding their television packages these days, fans are paying more money than ever to be able to watch games (which we covered in Thursday’s Traina Thoughts) and Barkley has had enough.

“You got greedy players and greedy owners,” Barkley said on CNBC. “They don’t care about anything except how to make as much money as possible. We should never invest money on a regular fan. Not everyone can afford streaming. There’s nothing wrong with streaming, but when you start going to the highest bidder and you’re not on regular television, I think you’re unfair to the fan. In fairness, players want to make as much money as possible. Owners want to make as much money as possible, but the fans are always the most important thing because no matter how much money you make, if people aren’t watching, it’s a loss.

While I appreciate Barkley’s opinion and agree with most of it, it’s hard to say it’s a lose-lose proposition since most fans already aren’t watching the NBA nationally during the regular season and the NBA right now. was also able to produce $76 billion. Its new television deals.

According to Sports Media Watch, the 2023–24 regular season averaged 1.09 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV. These numbers don’t make the NBA a ratings juggernaut.

However, the networks did not pay more than $76 billion for ratings. They paid that money for tonnage. NBC needs content for Peacock. Amazon needs any live sports content they can get. With the NBA providing games on a nightly basis from October through April, the NBA is an ideal partner for networks that need to fill hours with live programming.

And the number of people watching those games is irrelevant because the league has already received its money and that money will go to the players. Despite Barkley’s appeal, no one really cares about the fan base.

2. With the addition of Tom Brady, Fox is changing its NFL broadcast duo for the 2024 season.

The big change (besides Brady) is Mark Sanchez moving up to the No. 3 team alongside Adam Amin. This was a smart move as Sanchez has shown a lot of promise and Amin, who worked with Mark Schlereth in previous years, is very enjoyable to listen to.

The Amin-Sanchez booth has a chance to be one of the better booths on Sunday afternoon.

3. I can’t believe this incident of JJ Redick saying the wrong thing in his introductory press conference as Lakers coach is still going on. It was ridiculous then and even more ridiculous now. This article by ESPN’s Courtney Cronin is mind-boggling.

If I’m following correctly, Cronin thinks it will be a problem when Redick uses a four-letter word while coaching? So now Redick will be the first NBA head coach in history to curse? Hopefully players and referees won’t be stigmatized for life when they hear Redick use obscenities.

Can we please grow up?

4. We will not measure actual performance. We’ll be heavily backing Travis Kelce to tackle one of the great power ballads of the ’80s, Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again,” at the American Century Championship charity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

5. Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill should be banned for life from reenlisting.

6. A brand new episode of SI Media with Jimmy Traina Dropped on Thursday and includes an interview Sports Business Journal NFL reporter Ben Fisher.

Fisher covered the antitrust trial in which a jury ordered the NFL to pay $4.7 billion for violating antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service. How much will Sunday ticket customers get and when? What are the NFL’s chances of winning the appeal? What does the decision mean for how the NFL distributes games in the future? Will the NFL ever sell single-team or single-game packages? What were the revelations from the trial?

Fisher also talks about what’s happening with NFL Network, the cancellation of the popular around the nfl Podcast, ongoing good morning football Out of New York, and much more.

Following Fischer, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include Joe Burrow’s idea for the NFL schedule, backlash aimed at LeBron James for playing with Bronny James, the Yankees’ problems and more.

can you hear SI Media with Jimmy Traina Below or on Apple and Spotify.

you can also see SI Media with Jimmy Traina But Sports Illustrated’s Youtube channel.

7, random video of the day: On this date in 1976, family FeudHosted by Richard Dawson, began on ABC. when tom brady was SI Media Podcast A few weeks ago, I asked him if he could be a contestant on any game show, what would it be. He replied family Feud And even specified the Richard Dawson version. So this gives me a chance to plug the Brady Podcast again and remember how wild Dawson-host was family Feud He was kissing every contestant.

be sure to Check out previous editions of Traina Thoughts and check Sports Illustrated Media Podcast Hosted by Jimmy Traina Apple, spotify Or Google, You can also follow Jimmy Twitter And Instagram,