SportsPro’s Post

Wow, what a whirlwind of updates in the sports world! From Paramount Global trimming down to ESPN's massive college football rights deal, and not to forget, the exciting new partnerships in NBA and athletics. Each story hints at big changes and even bigger opportunities. How do you think these shifts will play out for fans and the industry? Dive into the details and share your thoughts! 🏈🏀⚽️ #SportsTrends #FutureOfSports

🏀 The National Basketball Association (NBA)'s next round of rights negotiations is fast approaching... how could this shake up the sports/streaming landscape? 👀 Sports rights are essential properties given they're virtually the only events that consumers still tune-in to for appointment viewing, making them highly valuable for networks, streamers, and advertisers alike. Warner Bros. Discovery has historically had a big footprint carrying NBA games on TBS and TNT since 1988. The Walt Disney Company has also been a major partner via ESPN and ABC News. But others want in on the action, with bids being thrown around from the likes of Amazon and NBCUniversal, the latter having been absent from the League for more than two decades ⛹️♂️⛹️♀️ Prime Video & Amazon Studios has reportedly reached a framework deal with the NBA that resembles their share of National Football League (NFL) rights (where they exclusively carry Thursday Night Football games). And NBCU's bid is said to involve not just NBC but also (spoiler alert 🚨) Peacock as key assets to a deal. Peacock saw massive viewership during the NFL playoffs when it had exclusive rights to the Chiefs-Dolphins game. Can they mimic this success with the NBA? What other companies might have a chance to get in on the action? 📺👀 #StreamingWars #NBA #Investing101 #Media #DigitalAdvertising

A $60B+ sports business clock started ticking last Saturday. What is it?  The exclusive negotiating window for NBA’s national broadcast rights. The current deal worth $24B, is projected to increase 1.5x-3x, with the expectation of the next deal landing in the $60B-$72B range.  NBA + Turner + Disney have until April 22 to construct a new deal during this exclusive window.  If not, negotiations will open to potential new broadcasters and/or new deal structures. ESPN or Turner exclusive? Amazon? Apple?  NBC?  . . . I'll be intrigued to see the negotiation strategy. Will the NBA hold out to see what new players like Amazon or Apple can offer? Do Turner + ESPN put such a strong offer on the table so the NBA can't say no? Will either Turner or ESPN walk away because the rising broadcast cost makes it hard to justify the economics? Get your popcorn ready for one of the most important negotiations of 2024 🍿 #sportsbiz #sportsmedia #linkedinsports

I just read about what could be a potential seismic shift in the sports media landscape. Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery, are reportedly in early talks about a merger. As someone engaged in the sports media space, I find this development both fascinating and a bit uncertain. On one hand, this merger could reshape sports broadcasting, enhancing the viewer experience by potentially combining the vast sports assets of CBS with those of WBD. Imagine the synergies – NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, PGA Tour, NASCAR, and Big Ten Conference all under one umbrella. It's an exciting prospect. On the other hand, there are many unknowns. The biggest question that comes to my mind is how this merger could influence WBD's NBA deal, which is up for renewal after the 2024-25 season. Could this union provide WBD with the leverage and resources to craft a more competitive or innovative strategy for the NBA's next package? Streaming is already an integral part of both companies' strategies, and the potential of merging Paramount+ and Max services was discussed. This raises another question: How will this impact the streaming landscape, which is increasingly becoming a go-to medium for sports consumption? As we navigate through this evolving space, it's crucial to keep an open mind and a willingness to adapt. The sports media industry is ever-changing, and staying ahead means being ready to embrace new opportunities and tackle the challenges they bring. I'm eager to learn more and understand the implications of this potential merger. How do you think a union between Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery could change the sports media landscape? Any insights or perspectives are welcome as we try to grasp the potential impact of this monumental development. #SportsMedia #Broadcasting #ParamountGlobal #WarnerBrosDiscovery

I’m not that impressed by the new sports streaming service Venu Sports. Venu Sports is the joint venture between Disney’s ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. It will feature all three companies’ portfolio of live sports. This includes the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and college football. The service will cost $42.99 a month. The joint venture is aiming to launch before the start of the NFL season on September 5th, but it is still pending regulatory approval. It is also expected for further details to be released when it launches. My problem here is there are still so many sports games you are not receiving and $42.99 a month is quite expensive. Consider the fact that now Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Paramount also own large sports rights. One thing I’ll be interested in is how expansive the service will be. For example, with the NFL on Fox you are only able to view the local Fox game that is being broadcasted. With this new service would I be able to watch any NFL game that is being broadcasted on Fox that day? If not, I really don’t believe this is worth the money. As for the business structure it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Each company will own a 1/3 stake, have equal board representation, and will continue to bid independently for sports rights. I find it interesting they have an equal share since they all bring different rights to the table. As it stands right now, I’m not a fan of this deal as a consumer nor would I be as an investor in one of these companies. #VenuSports #ESPN #WarnerBros #Discovery #Fox #NFL #streaming

I’m not that impressed by the new sports streaming service Venu Sports. Venu Sports is the joint venture between Disney’s ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. It will feature all three companies’ portfolio of live sports. This includes the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and college football. The service will cost $42.99 a month. The joint venture is aiming to launch before the start of the NFL season on September 5th, but it is still pending regulatory approval. It is also expected for further details to be released when it launches. My problem here is there are still so many sports games you are not receiving and $42.99 a month is quite expensive. Consider the fact that now Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Paramount also own large sports rights. One thing I’ll be interested in is how expansive the service will be. For example, with the NFL on Fox you are only able to view the local Fox game that is being broadcasted. With this new service would I be able to watch any NFL game that is being broadcasted on Fox that day? If not, I really don’t believe this is worth the money. As for the business structure it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Each company will own a 1/3 stake, have equal board representation, and will continue to bid independently for sports rights. I find it interesting they have an equal share since they all bring different rights to the table. As it stands right now, I’m not a fan of this deal as a consumer nor would I be as an investor in one of these companies. #VenuSports #ESPN #WarnerBros #Discovery #Fox #NFL #streaming

The NBA media deal negotiations are a fascinating insight into what the leagues are looking for in a media deal as the world continually gets more digital. Linear television and who can get the most people no longer appear to be the primary focus of these deals, especially the NBA. This article lays out why Comcast is such an important and interesting player in this battle for the final spot. Instead, the focus is now on collecting as much data on the consumer as possible. That is what streaming services provide. The NFL got tons of data from the TNF deal and will continue getting data from the wild card game on Peacock. This data is worth more than a normal person may think on the business level. Amazon and ESPN/Disney already appear to have deals in place for the next NBA media deal, so it is between WB Discovery/TNT and Comcast/NBC/Peacock. TNT is the traditional broadcaster who, while having the streaming service, does not have the financial power or the data-gathering of Comcast/NBC/Peacock. The latter, meanwhile, has a greater ability to collect data, has more money and is much more stable in terms of ownership. The results of this WB Discovery vs Comcast war will showcase where the future of sports broadcasting is heading. Keep your eyes out for what happens.

I’m not that impressed by the new sports streaming service Venu Sports. Venu Sports is the joint venture between Disney’s ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox. It will feature all three companies’ portfolio of live sports. This includes the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and college football. The service will cost $42.99 a month. The joint venture is aiming to launch before the start of the NFL season on September 5th, but it is still pending regulatory approval. It is also expected for further details to be released when it launches. My problem here is there are still so many sports games you are not receiving and $42.99 a month is quite expensive. Consider the fact that now Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Paramount also own large sports rights. One thing I’ll be interested in is how expansive the service will be. For example, with the NFL on Fox you are only able to view the local Fox game that is being broadcasted. With this new service would I be able to watch any NFL game that is being broadcasted on Fox that day? If not, I really don’t believe this is worth the money. As for the business structure it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Each company will own a 1/3 stake, have equal board representation, and will continue to bid independently for sports rights. I find it interesting they have an equal share since they all bring different rights to the table. As it stands right now, I’m not a fan of this deal as a consumer nor would I be as an investor in one of these companies. #VenuSports #ESPN #WarnerBros #Discovery #Fox #NFL #streaming

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is on the brink of lucrative media deals with NBCUniversal, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios and The Walt Disney Company/ESPN, potentially bringing in a staggering $76 billion in revenue over 11 years, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. NBCUniversal is set to pay an average of $2.5 billion annually to showcase about 100 games per season, with half airing exclusively on Peacock. Amazon's deal, valued at $1.8 billion, includes regular season and playoff games, an in-season tournament, and "play-in" games. The Walt Disney Company, on the other hand, is expected to pay about $2.6 billion each year to continue broadcasting the NBA Finals, receiving fewer games but expanding coverage to ESPN's forthcoming direct-to-consumer platform. These agreements, encompassing WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) telecasts, are slated to commence post the 2024-2025 season and could hike the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s annual fees to nearly $7 billion, marking a notable 2.5 times increase in average fees. 🏀 📺 💻 📱 #nba #disney #espn #nbcu #peacock #amazonprime #primevideo #mediarights #sportbiz #sportsbusiness #sportsmedia #sponsorships #sportssponsorships #marketing #media #NBAfinals #brandedcontent #ai #mensio #hive

From the NYT: Warner Bros. Discovery has the contractual right to match third-party offers. It is likely to try to match Amazon’s offer, according to a person familiar with the company’s thinking. But the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s lawyers are still trying to determine how the contract defines Warner Bros. Discovery’s matching rights, according to two people familiar with the negotiations, given that the company would want to show many of the games on TNT and Amazon would stream them on Prime Video. It is an issue complicated by the fact that when these contracts were written in 2014, the #streaming of #sports was in its infancy. Losing the N.B.A. would sting for Warner Bros. Discovery because much of TNT’s advertising revenue and a large portion of its viewership are driven by N.B.A. games. But it would save over $2 billion annually, money it could use to purchase other sports rights. In recent years it has added rights to the National Hockey League (NHL), NASCAR, the United States men’s and women’s soccer teams, All Elite Wrestling, and the college football playoffs. Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to keep enough high-quality programming on its cable channels to earn large distribution fees and #advertising dollars, while also shifting exclusive programming to streaming to build its HBO Max service. “The streaming industry is in the middle of an evolution,” said Frank Albarella, a #media and telecommunications executive at the accounting firm KPMG. “Everybody’s trying to differentiate themselves. All the old norms are being challenged. I do think this move to live sports can be a game changer for the sector and the industry.” For the N.B.A., cable channels like TNT have lost their luster. Broadcast channels like NBCUniversal and ABC — which reach more households than cable channels — are back in vogue, and streaming has the potential to reach larger audiences around the world than television ever could. NBC would also use its streaming platform, Peacock, to show N.B.A. games. Silver said during a news conference on June 6, before Game 1 of the N.B.A. finals, that streaming “allows for tremendous additional functionality when it comes to watching games, personalization, customization of games, multiple feeds, multiple dialects, multiple languages, different camera angles. It really gives the #fan enormous additional choice that you don’t have through traditional #television.”