F1 and Apple are reportedly close to announcing their media rights deal. Plus: more big market support for the MLB’s local media solution; TNT extends Wayne Gretzky; and more sports media news.
F1, Apple, reportedly hoping to announce deal at USGP
Formula 1 and Apple are hoping to announce their new media rights deal in as soon as two weeks at the U.S. Grand Prix, John Ourand of Puck reported Monday. Progress had stalled due to a dispute over the F1 TV streaming service, which Apple wants to shut down in the United States.
F1 TV, which launched in 2018, offers the ability to stream all F1 races, secondary series, onboard cameras and team radio feeds for as little as $11/mo ($85/year). Its continued existence would keep Apple from having exclusive F1 rights in the U.S., no doubt a point of contention given the nine-figure annual rights fee the streamer is expected to pay.
But F1 is reluctant to shut down the U.S. version of the app, which has been profitable, per Ourand. And it is not clear that F1 TV is eating into the audience watching races on current rights partner ESPN. The app debuted the same year that ESPN began airing F1, and it has not stopped the network from steadily growing its audience.
The dispute has reportedly been the “main holdup” keeping F1 and Apple from announcing their widely expected media rights deal, which was first reported over the summer. That an official announcement seems to be on the horizon would indicate that the conflict has potentially been resolved. But according to Ourand, it is not yet clear which side won out.
Sox are latest big market club to support centralized MLB rights
Boston Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy told Sports Business Journal last week that the club is on board with the league’s plan to centralize local media rights, calling it “good for the entire industry.” Boston is now the second of the high-revenue clubs to signal support after Kennedy’s Dodgers counterpart Stan Kasten made similar comments earlier in the week.
While Kennedy told SBJ that the “economics will take care of themselves” if the end product is appealing and accessible to users, it has long been thought that the high-revenue clubs could be resistant to any local media centralization plan. Local media rights revenue is notoriously unbalanced, with top teams generating several times as much annually as those in smaller markets, and some either partially or fully owning their RSNs — including the Red Sox, who own 80 percent of NESN.
Kennedy notably described NESN — along with Marquee Sports Network and YES Network — as “going strong,” but said the goal is to “make sure that the diaspora of Red Sox fans, Cubs fans, Yankee fans, Dodgers fans, Giants fans, Brewers fans can all get to us quickly and in a way where there’s not a ton of friction.”
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said at the Front Office Sports Tuned In summit last month that he expects all 30 MLB clubs rights to be available for the potential centralized option in 2028.
Gretzky staying with TNT in new deal
TNT Sports announced Monday that it has reached a multi-year contract extension with NHL studio analyst Wayne Gretzky, who will presumably continue in his current role making occasional appearances in the TNT studio. Gretzky, who is arguably still the best known hockey player in the world, has been with TNT Sports since it began airing NHL games in 2021.
In other NHL announcing news, ESPN said Monday that it has reached multi-year contract extensions with play-by-play voice Bob Wischusen, NHL analysts Kevin Weekes, P.K. Subban and Cassie Campbell-Pascall, and “Inside the Glass” reporter Leah Hextall.
The network is also bringing back former studio analyst John Tortorella, who is returning to ESPN after a four-year absence. Los Angeles Kings voice John Kelly is also joining the roster this season, working a limited schedule of games.
ESPN previously announced that it is hiring the recently retired T.J. Oshie a game and studio analyst.
Plus: WNBA on Prime, NBA League Pass, Stu Lantz, NCAA-AT&T
- Amazon Prime Video has chosen Candace Parker to serve as its lead WNBA analyst alongside previously announced voice Michael Grady, Prime Sports global head of production Jared Stacy told Richard Deitsch of The Athletic. Because Parker primarily works for TNT Sports, which has never produced a WNBA telecast, she has never actually called a WNBA game.
- As part of the new NBA media rights deal, NBA League Pass will no longer be available to stream on most vMPDS. The out-of-market package will be available on its flagship app, Amazon Prime Video and DIRECTV (which dropped its “DIRECTV STREAM” brand but still offers the product). The out-of-market package had been previously available to purchase and stream on YouTube TV, Fubo and Sling. (YouTube TV previously confirmed that it will no longer carry League Pass to Phillip Swann of The TV Answer Man.) League Pass will still be available through linear cable providers.
- Los Angeles Lakers TV analyst Stu Lantz missed the team’s first two preseason games as he recovers from a medical procedure. He was replaced by Mychal Thompson on Spectrum SportsNet coverage of both games. According to ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin, Lantz is on a week-to-week timetable, with the regular season set to begin in little more than two weeks.
- The NCAA and AT&T are expected to announce a renewal of their sponsorship deal, according to Ben Portnoy of Sports Business Journal. As part of the NCAA Corporate Champion and Partner Program, all such deals are brokered through CBS Sports and TNT Sports.
