Parker, Montgomery, Jbara to lead TNT Sports’ Unrivaled studio coverage

TNT Sports announced three-time WNBA champion and two-time league MVP Candace Parker, former WNBA All-Star Renee Montgomery and host Lauren Jbara will anchor studio coverage for upcoming three-on-three women’s basketball league Unrivaled.

Lisa Leslie, Brendan Glasheen and Sarah Kustok will join in-game coverage throughout Unrivaled’s inaugural season, with a rotation of reporters including Taylor Rooks, Allie LaForce, Stephanie Ready and Ros Gold-Onwude.

“Our studio coverage has been a little bit of a differentiator for us. It’s part of our signature,” said Craig Barry, EVP & Chief Content Officer of TNT Sports. “When we looked at the opportunity, one of the things that we asked ourselves is how can we sprinkle our DNA on this. That simply is to make sure that we operate honestly, authentically, unapologetically, [and] make sure we were playing in that intersection of sports and culture, and that we create as much access to the court, to the player, to the game as possible.”

Warner Bros. Discovery has a three-year media rights deal with Unrivaled, including a three-year option. The overall deal is valued around $100M. Coverage includes more than 45 primetime regular season games three nights each week across TNT Sports platforms, including twice-weekly games on TNT Mondays and Fridays and truTV on Saturdays. TNT Sports also has an investment in the league.  

Unrivaled’s season will last eight weeks, all from one location in Miami, tipping off Jan. 17.

“We’re going to have to educate and inform,” said Barry. “We’re going to have to build a narrative of why you love these certain players, or who do you love and who do you know, who do you love to root for, and who do you love to root against.”

In addition to founders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, big names set to play in the inaugural season include Sabrina Ionescu, Cameron Brink, Jewell Loyd, Brittney Griner, Angel Reese, Arike Ogunbowale and more.

The studio show, from TNT Studios in Atlanta, will be flexible, according to Barry, initially heavily leaning on pre-game, and adjust throughout the season.

“They did some run-throughs with stand-ins, and the games were going longer than anticipated,” said Barry. “We’re live, so it doesn’t really matter how long the window is. We wanted to take a look at everything and say, ‘What’s the best experience?’”

That will likely look like a front-loaded, half-hour pregame studio show, and a short post-game, potentially eventually blending to a 15-20 minute pregame and a 15-20 minute postgame.

“The true answer is whatever the games dictate,” said Barry. “I don’t really want to be restricted by the window of time. If something incredible happens, if moments happen, and we need to take more time on the backend to show highlights and to showcase those moments, we will.”

Game on

WBD and TNT Sports will also produce a documentary series “Unrivaled Unscripted” that will air Saturday nights throughout the season.

“One of the big differentiators, and this may seem like a really simple thing, but I come from the creative side of the business, and these follow-docs that are a dime a dozen now, whether it’s the ‘Quarterback’ or ‘Receiver’ or ‘Full Swing,’ I know how all of those end,” said Barry. “All of these world-class athletes are in in the same proximity in Miami. We have the ability to shoot behind the scenes in all-access footage of these athletes and of these women, and create a real-time follow-doc every week.”

Barry added: “We have this vehicle where we’re able to extend the narrative around the players and then distribute that not only on TNT and TruTV and Max, but also in some degree socially as well. [We’re] hoping that that access and that ability to insert that access into the various shows, not just in full-length, but even in digestible pieces … create more of an emotional connection between the players, the league, and the fans.”