ESPN, NBC express interest in hiring Charles Barkley

ESPN and NBC have now made it clear that they are interested in hiring Charles Barkley away from TNT. Burke Magnus, ESPN’s president of content, said, “Yeah. That would be a perfect world, actually. Charles is a singular talent.” Despite the interest, Barkley has stated that he plans to remain with TNT, even though the network will lose its NBA media rights after the 2024-25 season.

Magnus acknowledged the competition for Barkley, saying, “I would be lying if we said we weren’t interested in Charles. I think the entire industry is interested in Charles. He’s really that special. We’ll see.” Magnus even made a recruitment pitch, reassuring Barkley that joining ESPN wouldn’t mean overwhelming commitments to shows like First Take or Get Up. “I just keep reassuring people that if you come work for us, that doesn’t mean you have to – this narrative gets started that if you come work for us, you also have to do 200 episodes of First Take or Get Up. The car wash – no. The car wash is for people who want their car washed.”

NBCUniversal chairman Mark Lazarus followed up on the stage at Tuned In, echoing similar interest in Barkley as NBC gears up to broadcast NBA games again starting in the 2025-26 season. “If Charles were available, we’d certainly love to have that conversation with him,” Lazarus said. “We’ve known him for a long time. We’ve known him from the time that we were there in 2000 or so. So we think that Charles adds a great element to everything he does. He’s been a guest on our shows. If he were to be available, certainly we’d be talking to him. Unless Burke Magnus talks to him first.”