Charles Barkley RIPS ‘greedy players and owners’ for $20 billion Amazon – NBA streaming deal

Charles Barkley will retire after next year once TNT's deal with NBA expires.

Charles Barkley RIPS ‘greedy players and owners’ for $20 billion Amazon – NBA streaming deal

Charles Barkley rips greedy players and greedy owners for $20 billion Amazon - NBA streaming deal

Charles Barkley has been a part of the NBA for 40 years, 16 years as a player and the rest as a broadcaster. He has seen the league transition from being popular in America, to being one of the most popular sports in the world. He knows all the popularity is due to the fans. Television has played a major part in building that fan base. However, with streaming coming into the picture with Amazon, Barkley is concerned.

‘The round mound of rebound’ sat down with CNBC after competing in the American Century Championship. When asked about fans needing to subscribe to streaming service provider Amazon, he went on a rant.

YouTube video
Well, I think that you got greedy players and greedy owners...We should never put money above the regular fan. Everybody can't afford streaming. But when you start just going to the highest bidder and you're not on regular television, I think you do a disservice to the fan. The fan is always the most important thing, because no matter how much money you make, if people are not watching, it's a lose-lose proposition.
Charles Barkley went off

He was clear that regular fans may not pay for streaming. Resulting in the NBA losing fans who pay for the sport. Charles Barkley‘s logic might have some truth here, as not everyone wants to purchase a streaming service just to watch games. Their television package ensures they have sports networks along with other entertainment networks, making it affordable.

FS Video

Streaming forces fans to purchase subscriptions from multiple providers. Amazon for instance has won the bid for NBA, but they do not get all the games. Therefore, to watch the rest of the games, they will need a separate package. Making it expensive, and possibly unnecessary if costs rise.

Charles Barkley still has work to do with his golf game

Charles Barkley is a regular at the American Century Championship. But despite playing the game of golf for a long time, he still struggles with it at times. But he always tries to get better at it on every occasion. However, a fan-posted video shows his frustrations bringing out a curse word after he took a swing with his big iron.

The Hall of Famer knows such chances do not come that easily. Therefore, to mess up chances will surely affect him. He has not won against his colleague Ernie Johnson in the past two Black Masters tournaments. He also frequently calls out other broadcasters to take him on in a game of golf.

It seems golf will be the sport he will take up to play extensively after he retires from television broadcasting next year. The likes of Amazon and NBC have outbid TNT to obtain the NBA’s broadcasting rights starting from the 2025-26 season.

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