Yahoo Sports’ Post

The Varsity 1) The NBA's media negotiations are closer to being finalized with ESPN taking the "A" package and Amazon taking the "C" package. The NBA's media committee met Weds to start to paper its new deals. Don’t expect any deal to be announced within the next week, but it looks like NBC’s bid for the "B" package will be papered, leaving WBD to see if it can match or not. 2) What happens to WBD's involvement in Venu (né Spulu) if it loses the NBA? Not much, actually. My sources say there’s almost no chance that Venu would kick out WBD altogether, though the sports streamer is likely to pay less for TNT. 3) Five NFL games I have circled this season, including the Dec. 21 games up against the CFP and the Sept. 6 Friday nighter from Brazil. 4) Wouldn’t it make more sense for Diamond Sports to do a bad deal with Comcast than no deal at all? I'm told that the RSN operator could lose between $60 million and $80 million a year from Comcast’s cliff path strategy alone. 5) A former network researcher: “The narrative that sports ratings are up solely because of the nearly 4-year-old inclusion of out-of-home viewing in TV ratings is going to make my head explode...Sports ratings are up because of streaming being included in TV ratings." -- Plus, sports media executives shouldn’t be surprised that the NFL—which does whatever it wants because it can—went with Netflix for a pair of Christmas Day games. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t peeved about it. https://lnkd.in/entiaK8y

The Varsity * The NBA is continuing to talk with Warner Bros. Discovery and NBC, but negotiations are not far enough along yet for the league to start conversations around WBD’s all-important matching rights. NBC and the NBA would have to be close to a signed deal for negotiations over those matching rights to truly commence. * Comcast and Diamond have barely spoken in the nine days since the cable operator dropped all of the Bally Sports Networks from its Xfinity cable systems. Both sides are entrenched in their positions, and it doesn't look like any deal is close. * CBS Sports’s deal with the Italian soccer league Serie A expires in a couple of weeks and the two sides are not close on a renewal. The Italian soccer league will either have to accept a much lower rights fee from CBS or find a new partner in the U.S. market. * Former Turner Sports president Lenny Daniels was considered one of the early favorites to replace Norby Williamson, but now has become a much longer shop as ESPN is not moving off its desire that the role will be based in Bristol, Conn. * Streaming, Paramount, women's sports, Spulu and sports betting were the top topics on the minds of NFL lawyers who gathered in Washington, D.C. this week. I spoke to the group on Wednesday morning about the changing media landscape, and these were the focus of most of the questions I fielded. * It looks like Netflix will wind up carrying the two NFL games scheduled for December 25, per a bevy of sources. It’s a first-of-its-kind deal, and almost certainly not the last. https://lnkd.in/eQN-tqcj

The Varsity * Sean McManus stepped down Sunday after 28 years of running CBS Sports. What were his last minutes as CBS Sports chairman like? I detail what happened inside the network's production compound during McManus' last minutes in charge. * McManus wasn't the only longtime CBS employee to retire following The Masters. The beloved announcer Verne Lundquist called his final round at Augusta National after 40 years. The kind of announcer who knows when to talk and when to stay quiet, Lunquist has always described his style as "minimalist." * Spulu - the planned sports streaming service from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery - likely will have to contend with an antitrust trial just before its launch. I have the latest on Fubo TV's plans to derail Spulu's launch. * Baseball fans hate MLB blackouts - the ones that don't allow, say, Oriole fans to stream the team's games from parts of Delaware and Pennsylvania all the way down to North Carolina. Slowly but surely, MLB has a plan to end these blackouts. It's not happening fast enough for some fans. But it is happening. * The biggest sports business story right now is obviously what the NBA will do with its media rights packages. The second biggest? It could be the UFC’s media rights, which are up in December of 2025. Plus, details on Diamond Sports who has a fundamental disagreement with DirecTV and Comcast. Sure, Diamond knows that its regional sports networks will have to go on a digital tier. But Diamond wants DirecTV and Comcast to migrate those channels over a multi-year period - a "glide path." DirecTV and Comcast want to do it right away - "a cliff path." They still have a couple of weeks to work out a deal. https://lnkd.in/eqrBbnBB

It has been fantastic to repeatedly hear Ted Leonsis confirm Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s dedication to the growth of women’s sports. After witnessing the Fever pitch (pun intended) around the broadcast of the WNBA draft (and the entire NCAA season), it’s clear that the growth of women’s sports has been boosted by the limitless availability of content to fans. When fans (especially young ones) can see future versions of themselves via streaming platforms and in clips on YouTube, Instagram, etc.; the trajectory changes. Streaming is playing a key role in how this fan base consumes content. The growth of women’s sports is a movement and movements are tied to distribution platforms. One can look no further than one the most recent pop culture movements - the growth of hip hop. It likely wouldn’t have happened without cable television - specifically MTV. So, as this women’s sports movement grows; the participants can be reached and influenced on streaming platforms. In the DMV, that platform is Monumental Sports Network - with our coverage of the Washington Spirit and the Washington Mystics - our access to this audience is unmatched.

New strategies are needed to engage younger sports fans. The same is true for the news business. Great insights from John Kosner and Ed Desser. "Researching your fan base is a must.  (not just relying on Nielsen or syndicated services). Do a SWOT analysis on your media business. How many are willing to pay for your content? How much are sponsors willing to support you? How and where do your viewers spend their time? How do they define fandom? Do they bet on your sport? Where are your new opportunities?"

How Social Media is Transforming the Sports Industry In this video, we delve into the impact of social media and internet dependency on the sports industry, featuring insights from an ESPN professional. Discover how these changes are reshaping the way sports are covered and experienced. #SportsIndustry #SocialMediaImpact #ESPNInsights #DigitalTransformation #SportsCoverage #InternetDependency #MediaChanges #SportsProfessionals #ContentEvolution #IndustryTrends

Where is the concern about the Number of Games that kids will be playing and the Number of Months that they will be playing football to further enrich everyone else except themselves and their families! It is criminal the way these plantations are exploiting and abusing the poor, disadvantaged minority boys. It is Shameful and Disgraceful! Greed and Selfishness are the Core issues that are driving all this misdirection and intentional confusion. I have an argument that have not and cannot be disputed or debunked. The Greed is at the Gross Revenue level with the Private Bowl Games, CFP, NCAA, and the Universities not carving out 30-50% off the Top for line item #1 on their Expense. The Selfishness is at the Net Revenue with the Athletic Department and University Administrative number of jobs and Compensation, the two Revenue Generating Sports coaching Compensation, Sharing of the FB & BB Revenues with other Sports, Departments, Facilities, Projects, Programs and interests. NIL and Collectives do not address this Theft and Travesty, and everyone at the school that is accepting their cut from this hush money is furthering this crime against these poor, disadvantaged young men and their families and communities.

Read about the remarkable life of David Sharapan and his perspectives on the sports betting business in today's edition of Meet the Bettors presented by Point To Point Marketing. https://lnkd.in/gZsCDEz8

Here's my latest article for Barrett Media #SchwartzOnSports

🏀 📺 We've got ourselves a showdown in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and it's not the playoffs. After not reaching a deal during its exclusive negotiating period, Warner Bros. Discovery - parent company of Turner (Turner Broadcasting System, Inc) - is in danger of losing the NBA media rights it's held for nearly 40 years to NBCUniversal, as NBC has come in with a significant offer of $2.5 billion, nearly 120% over the current agreement. The agreement puts WBD in a Catch-22. Keeping the rights would surely mean overpaying (reports are saying they'd need to come in at $2.8 billion to have a shot), and the company is already in challenging financial times. But, if it loses the rights, it drastically weakens its cable business due to being unable to maintain its carriage rights, which are among the highest out there ($3/subscriber) and generates $2.56 billion annually for the company. Decisions, decisions. In this week’s SBP, you’ll learn (with the assistance of some memes): - How the NBA is carving up its new media rights package - The “tale of the tape” between WBD and NBC - The outcomes of either scenario (and NBC's ultimate angle) - What I think the NBA will do - The ramifications this broader deal will have on the industry as a whole Check it out below! 👇 https://lnkd.in/gtizrPdY