2022 was a whirlwind of a year in sports media. While there was a little bit of everything, there were four major themes: streaming giants, global sporting events, media rights negotiations, and talent movement. In no particular order here are the 12 biggest stories of 2022:
Streaming Giants Get Into the Game
Sunday Ticket to Google
Sunday Ticket was a topic of conversation for the better part of 2022 after DirecTV confirmed they would not be renewing their deal with the NFL. After long being rumored to be heading to Apple and Apple TV+, a sudden exit from Apple after failing to “see the logic,” opened the door for Google and YouTube TV. For $2 billion a year, Google will distribute Sunday Ticket as an add-on package to YouTube TV and standalone a-la-carte on YouTube Primetime Channels for the next seven years. YouTube’s other benefits include: exclusive access to NFL content, opportunities for YouTube Creators to be present at key NFL events, YouTube is now the presenting sponsor of Back Together Saturday (the official start of training camp) and NFL Kickoff Weekend. The deal represents Google’s first venture into live sports.
From a consumer’s perspective, YouTube TV’s base plan currently starts at $65. YouTube Primetime Channels is an a-la-carte streaming service where users can buy and manage any streaming subscription, similar to how Amazon Prime Channels functions. Sunday Ticket is not expected to decrease in price, but actually increase due to the new, larger rights deals the NFL negotiated in 2021.
SMW coverage: Sunday Ticket to Google and Apple backs out
Amazon’s Thursday night success
The NFL’s first foray into streaming and Amazon’s first foray into live sports was a resounding success. Thanks to a $1.1 billion/year agreement, Amazon Prime Video is the home for Thursday Night Football through 2032. Led by the commentary team of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit, the debut of Amazon’s version of TNF generated more new Prime memberships over a three-hour period than any other event in Amazon history, including previous Prime Days, Black Fridays, and Cyber Mondays. With the success, Amazon will almost certainly be included in every rights negotiation rumor mill, from the recently announced Sunday Ticket to the to-be-announced-in-2023 Pac-12 deal. TNF is now averaging 9.67 million viewers for the season (11.4 million per Amazon’s internal metrics).
MLS and Apple
After an electric MLS Cup final in 2021 that resulted in the largest TV audience in the event’s history, MLS and Apple came to an exclusive, 10-year, $2.5 billion agreement that stunned the soccer and US sporting world. Apple will show all MLS regular season and Leagues Cup (MLS vs. Liga MX competition) matches on the Apple TV platform via MLS Season Pass — a subscription channel within the Apple TV+ app that will be available for $14.99 per month or $99 per season. MLS Season Pass will not be subject to blackouts and approximately 40% of the games will be shown without the paywall.
MLS did come to an additional agreement with FOX Sports and TelevisaUnivision to broadcast games on linear TV. The four-year deal includes 15 regular season matches on FOX — the most ever in a single season — as well as MLS Cup on FOX each year. For the first time in league history, ESPN will not carry a single match.
SMW coverage: Breakdown part one, part two and the state of MLS TV
MLB makes deals with Apple, Peacock
Major League Baseball officially entered the streaming realm this year with not one, but two smaller deals with streaming services. First, a deal with Apple for the exclusive rights to Friday Night Baseball for seven years at $85 million annually. Apple will air two games each Friday (approximately 50 games a year) as well as a nightly wraparound show on the Apple TV+ service. Apple also retains the right to exit the agreement after either the first or second year.
The second deal is a two-year, $30 million annual agreement with NBC for a package of 18 exclusive late morning and early afternoon Sunday games to be shown on the Peacock streaming service. The first six of the games are scheduled to begin at 11:30 AM ET, with the remaining games set to start at noon. Each week, the Peacock game will be the only one played until 1:30 PM ET. Peacock will also carry the All-Star Futures Game. It marks NBC’s return to MLB for the first time since 2000.
SMW coverage: Apple deal and the Peacock deal
Global Sporting Events
Qatar World Cup and the death of Grant Wahl
The world’s biggest sporting event took place this year in a first ever winter World Cup. Even though the backdrop of the tournament included an avalanche of sportswashing amid human rights disasters and bribery scandals that led to a Qatar World Cup, it was a tournament for the ages – and the ratings reflected it. Every round seemed to be another opportunity to break a viewership record. It culminated in a dazzling final epic that ranks fifth all-time in total viewership among soccer matches in the United States and the FOX-only audience was the highest ever for a men’s World Cup match on a single network (including pre-match coverage).
However, the sudden death of prominent US soccer journalist Grant Wahl at a quarterfinal match was a tragic moment that further amplified the off-field issues at the tournament. Wahl was an outspoken critic of the Qatar World Cup, even being detained by security forces in Qatar for wearing a rainbow shirt in support of LGBTQ rights to a USMNT match against Wales. Although at the time there were suspicions of foul play, led by Wahl’s brother Eric, it was later revealed that Wahl died of an aortic aneurysm.
SMW coverage: Final ratings, analysis of Fox’s coverage, Grant Wahl’s death, and the podcast on Grant Wahl
Beijing Winter Olympics continue ratings plummet
Qatar wasn’t the first major once-in-four-years sporting event of 2022. The Beijing Winter Olympics took place in the very beginning of the year, and although NBC tried to play down ratings expectations, it still flopped. For the second time in less than a year, the Olympic Games averaged a record-low primetime audience on the NBC family of networks – averaging 10.7 million viewers across NBC’s television platforms and 11.4 million including additional streaming viewership not tracked by Nielsen — easily the smallest average on record for primetime coverage of any Games, Summer or Winter. Although viewership has declined for five-straight Games, this year’s drop was particularly precipitous – a 42% drop compared to PyeongChang in 2018.
Beijing had a variety of issues from environmental and sporting concerns from using only artificial snow to bloated spending to a lack of recognizable athletes and NFL ratings competition. However, much like Qatar, the numerous human rights issues – the ongoing Uyghur genocide in northwest China, the aggressive treatment of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mongolia, and the disappearance of renowned tennis star Peng Shuai – took a front row seat and even led several countries to diplomatically boycott, including the United States.
SMW coverage: Beijing ratings and a comparison of Beijing and Qatar
Media Rights Negotiations
Big Ten leaves ESPN for FOX, CBS and NBC
The Big Ten got a Big Deal in 2022. Agreements with FOX, CBS and NBC will total $1 billion annually and cuts ESPN out of Big Ten action for the first time since 1981. Under the deals, incumbent FOX will remain the primary Big Ten broadcaster, carrying more football games (30) than CBS (15) and NBC (14-16, plus 8 Peacock exclusives) and the Big Ten Championship Game in four of seven years (2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029). CBS gets the title game in 2024, NBC in 2026 and CBS in 2028. While this was an expected big deal, the Big Ten further rubber-stamped their top tier FBS conference status during the latest conference realignment talks…
SMW coverage: Big Ten media rights deal
Realignment amid Big 12 deal and Pac-12 negotiations
In August of 2021, an “alliance” between the Big Ten, ACC, and Pac-12 was formed to provide stability to the three conferences. Less than a year later, the Big Ten shatters the agreement by boldly adding UCLA and USC to its ranks, sending shockwaves through college sports. After having the valuable LA market swept out from under them, the Pac-12 became instantly vulnerable and questions arose over the conference’s viability. The Big Ten looked like it could poach an additional few programs from them. All the while, the Big 12 have their own expansion ideas about adding teams in the Pacific Time Zone. There were even talks of a Big 12-Pac-12 merger to create a third mega-conference to compete with the Big Ten and SEC.
At the end of 2022 however, the Pac-12 still exists and the Big 12 is standing pat, but strong. They secured a new six-year deal with ESPN and Fox Sports worth $380 million/year. A 73% increase on their old deal. This is despite the SEC capturing their two best brands in Texas and Oklahoma. The Big 12 is poised to add BYU, Cincinnati, Central Florida, and Houston in 2023, while the Big Ten does have escalator clauses in their new deal should they expand past USC and UCLA.
For the Pac-12, their survival as a conference is something to watch in 2023, especially as the talks for their media rights are ongoing, with Amazon rumored to be one of the interested bidders. They are the last major conference media rights available.
SMW coverage: Big 12 media rights deal
Sinclair’s Bally Sports problem
Sinclair started the year on a good note when they picked up NBA rights in January, building momentum for the launch of Bally Sports+, their planned over-the-top streaming service. The goal was to give consumers their local RSN without cable for $20 a month. By the time the year was halfway gone, it became clear that the RSNs were bleeding Sinclair dry, operating with more than $8 billion in debt.
By August, they had to hire investment banks to help restructure the RSN assets while having an independent board of directors. And by December, Sinclair was forced to surrender control of Bally Sports to the new CEO of the independent board, former ESPN and NBC Sports executive David Preschlack. A couple weeks later it was reported that Bally Sports is set to return to Fubo TV in January 2023 after a three-year absence.
SMW coverage: January update, May update, September update, December update, Fubo TV update
Talent Movement
Bob Iger returns to Disney
Bob Iger returned to the Disney CEO role in a stunning move where he replaced beleaguered CEO Bob Chapek, his hand-picked successor. Iger served as Disney CEO from 2005-2020 and will be at the helm again for another 2 years as Disney restarts their succession search. While Iger was considered an ESPN ally during his first term, rumors swirl that an ESPN spinoff may be in the cards, especially as Disney continues to move toward an “IP based portfolio” according to one Wells Fargo analyst.
NFL broadcasters merry-go-round
2022 was the year of musical chairs for NFL broadcasters after a long era of stability. Al Michaels left NBC for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football with Kirk Herbstreit. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman traded FOX Sundays for ESPN Monday nights after 20 years and six Super Bowls at Fox Sports. Fox got a Big Ten game for letting Buck walk and replaced the pair with Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen, although a certain quarterback retirement could change that duo. NBC officially made Mike Tirico its Sunday Night Football host. And while football saw the most movement, Ian Eagle was announced as Jim Nantz’s March Madness replacement when he retires in 2023. Even fantasy sports analyst Matthew Berry got in on the action. Berry moved to NBC Sports after 15 years at ESPN.
SMW coverage: Michaels and Herbstreit, Buck and Aikman, Tirico’s promotion, Eagle replaces Nantz, Berry leaves for NBC
Tom Brady to FOX
In the biggest broadcasting move of the year, Fox signed active NFL legend Tom Brady to a 10-year, $375 million deal to be their lead NFL analyst whenever he retires. Brady would theoretically replace Troy Aikman in the booth, a position currently held by Greg Olsen. After falling short of signing Peyton Manning, Tony Romo and Drew Brees, Fox Sports got their man this time around – should Brady choose to purse a broadcasting career. If the Buccaneers are not playing in the Super Bowl, expect to see Brady make his debut in 2023, according to a Front Office Sports report.
SMW coverage: Tom Brady joins FOX
