Amazon will reportedly pay the NBA three years worth of rights fees upfront in an effort to thwart a WBD match. Plus: Greg Amsinger will replace Ernie Johnson on TBS’ MLB studio as Johnson tends to a family matter; The CW announces coverage plans for the upcoming college football season.
Amazon to pay three years of fees upfront to stymie WBD match
One of the oft-discussed “poison pills” in Amazon’s new NBA agreement has come into focus as the tech giant will reportedly pay three years of media rights fees to the NBA upfront in an effort to stave off a potential match from Warner Bros. Discovery. The upfront payment was first reported by Bill Simmons of The Ringer.
A three-year upfront payment would total around $5.85b, a figure that debt-riddled WBD would unlikely be able to come up with. Monday is the final day WBD can submit a match.
Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reported Monday that WBD will likely try to negotiate a settlement with the league. Such a settlement could take several different avenues, including allowing WBD to produce games for Amazon, allowing WBD to continue operating NBA TV, or even letting WBD license Inside the NBA to Amazon for a hefty fee.
As for when the NBA’s new set of rights agreements expire in 2037, the league will not have to worry about matching rights. Per a report in The Athletic on Friday, the league’s new agreements with Disney, NBC, and Amazon do not contain matching rights similar to the ones currently being exercised by WBD. (SBJ, 7.22) (The Athletic, 7.19)
Amsinger in for Johnson on TBS MLB studio
MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger will replace Ernie Johnson on TBS’ MLB studio for the remainder of the MLB regular season and playoffs as Johnson takes off for a family matter, the network announced Monday. Amsinger will now host MLB Tuesday on TBS through the end of the regular season alongside analysts Pedro Martinez, Jimmy Rollins, and Curtis Granderson. TBS will also be home to the ALDS and ALCS this postseason.
Since 2009, Amsinger has hosted MLB Network’s flagship show MLB Tonight. Prior to his work for MLB Network, Amsinger called college football and basketball for CBS. (WBD, 7.22)
The CW announces CFB coverage plans
The CW Network announced coverage plans for its ACC and Pac-12 college football packages on Monday. As reported Sunday, Thom Brennaman will serve as lead play-by-play announcer for the network. It is now known that his partner will be analyst Max Browne, with Treavor Scales rounding out the lead team as a sideline reporter.
The Brennaman crew will primarily call ACC games this season, while the team of play-by-play announcer Ted Robinson, 14-year veteran NFL quarterback Chase Daniels, and sideline reporter Nigel Burton will call the Pac-12 package, now featuring just Oregon State and Washington State. Mike Yam will host CW Football Saturday from the studio with a rotating panel of analysts.
The CW schedule kicks off with a doubleheader on August 31st featuring Portland State-Washington State and Idaho State-Oregon State. The ACC portion of the schedule begins the following week with Marshall-Virginia Tech. Pac-12 Enterprises will produce games for that conference while longtime ACC partner Raycom Sports will produce the ACC package for the network. (The CW, 7.22)
