Eric Shanks comments on the ESPN-NFL nonbinding agreement; Greg Sankey discusses efforts to modernize the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961; and ESPN has re-signed various broadcasters to new multiyear agreements. Plus news on Tom Brady, Alphabet, Inc., Katina Arnold and Chicago Sports Network.
Shanks: ‘A lot to unpack’ surrounding ESPN-NFL deal
Fox Sports CEO and EP Eric Shanks said in a recent podcast appearance that the nonbinding agreement that would give the NFL a ten percent equity stake in ESPN is “not surprising.” In an interview with SportsTech X managing director Rohn Malhotra, Shanks said there is still “a lot to unpack” about the deal and spoke about the sports media ecosystem at large.
“It’s happened before kind of in the reverse where networks have taken equity into different leagues, right, or done their own startups,” Shanks said. “But this is the first time going the other way around, and it’s not surprising to me at all. I think everybody’s looking for very unique ways to either be able to add value or to capitalize on future value that they add.”
Over the summer, Fox Corporation purchased a one-third interest in Penske Entertainment, the parent company of IndyCar, concurrent with a multiyear media rights extension for the open-wheel car racing property. Later in the podcast, Shanks outlined the current sports media landscape by contextualizing how new entrants such as YouTube, Amazon and DAZN are at the stage where they are starting to pursue major rights.
“[That is] when real competition starts to happen and creativity around things like the NFL and Disney start to happen,” Shanks said. “So I think that’s kind of the cycle we’re in, at least in the U.S., is that we went through four or five years where the middle guys were seeing good rights increases, and now you’re seeing that competition for the top.”
Sankey discusses argument to modernize Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961
In response to a push to modernize the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to allow college conferences to pool their broadcast rights, Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey said over the weekend that he is “happy to have conversations” but otherwise expressed skepticism of the effort.
Recent commercials sponsored by lobbyist and Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell have advocated for Congress to “save college sports” by amending the act to allow for the creation of one national television package for college sports. Campbell claims that this could create untapped revenue that could be distributed among the 136 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision and assist in funding athletic departments.
Sankey, per Matt Stahl of Alabama Media Group, said that “it doesn’t seem that the numbers are consistent with reality. It doesn’t seem that the suggestion that you can just make this happen honors existing agreements, so there’s a lot more to that than just some magic button.”
A potential change in the legislation could overrule a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in 1984 granting conferences and member schools the ability to sell their own packages. The Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 granted antitrust exemptions to professional sports leagues, permitting them to sell individual team media rights as league-wide packages. There have been arguments to expand the breadth of the federal statute to include college athletics as conferences face new complexities such as NIL, the transfer portal and modified revenue sharing rules. Campbell has claimed that alterations in college athletics have caused athletic departments to operate in the red and contended that it will put “women’s sports and Olympic dreams in immediate danger.”
ESPN re-signs on-air talent to new multiyear agreements
ESPN has reached new multiyear agreements with NFL analysts Herm Edwards, Andrew Hawkins, Jason McCourty and Jeff Saturday under which they will, among other things, continue appearing on shows the network’s studio shows “Get Up,” “First Take,” “NFL Live” and “SportsCenter.””
Edwards is currently in his second stint with ESPN and will be part of Sunday NFL coverage on “SportsCenter” for the morning and late-night versions. In addition, he is making weekly Sunday morning appearances on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and various Monday episodes of “SportsCenter.”
Hawkins will be part of “NFL Live” and “Get Up” on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Saturday will take part in programming on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, including the aforementioned shows plus “First Take,” “SportsCenter” and “Pardon the Interruption.” McCourty, who is entering his second year with ESPN, will take part in studio shows on Tuesdays and Thursdays while continuing to work as an NFL game analyst for CBS Sports.
Over the weekend, Michael Eaves also signed a new multiyear contract extension with ESPN, keeping him behind the “SportsCenter” anchor desk and contributing to coverage of golf majors. Eaves initially joined the network in 2015, and he has primarily hosted the nighttime editions of the show while also contributing to on-site editions of the show from tournaments such as the Masters and PGA Championship.
Plus: Tom Brady, Alphabet, Katina Arnold, Chicago Sports Network
- Fox Sports analyst and former NFL quarterback Tom Brady is going to be participating in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic round-robin tournament taking place at Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia next March. The event, which is being produced by OBB Media and Fanatics and will air live on Fox Sports and Tubi, will also feature Rob Gronkowski, Myles Garrett, Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb, Tyreek Hill and other NFL players.
- Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, officially became the fourth company to possess a market capitalization surpassing $3 trillion on Monday after its stock gained more value following an auspicious antitrust ruling. Stocks for the technology conglomerate rose by over 4%, which propelled Alphabet into the threshold previously attained by Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple.
- Katina Arnold has been promoted to senior vice president of Disney Advertising communications where she will work with executives Rita Ferro and Naomi Bulochnikov. Arnold is moving into the role after more than two decades at ESPN where she most recently worked as vice president of corporate communications.
- Chicago Sports Network president and CEO Jason Coyle has departed the company after serving in the role for the last 18 months, and he will subsequently become an advisor to the board of directors. Michael McCarthy, the COO of the RSN who previously served as general manager of Marquee Sports Network, will be assuming the roles immediately.
