Disney executives discuss the YouTube TV impasse; MLS approves a new calendar beginning in 2027; and Larry Brooks passes away after a battle with cancer. Plus news on Warner Bros. Discovery, the College Football Playoff, Las Vegas Grand Prix and NBC Olympics.
Iger: Disney working tirelessly to close YouTube TV deal
Disney CEO Bob Iger told investors during an earnings call Thursday that the company is “working tirelessly to close” a licensing deal with Google-owned YouTube TV. Iger said Disney has proposed a deal that is “equal to or better than what other large distributors have already agreed to,” adding that the company was “not trying to really break any new ground.” In addition, he claimed that YouTube and Google parent company Alphabet have said that the value Disney brings “is greater than the value of any other provider.”
While Iger seemed to express optimism that the sides would be able to reach an accord “on a timely enough basis,” Disney CFO Hugh Johnston struck a slightly different tone. In an interview with CNBC on Thursday morning, Johnston said Disney is “ready to go as long as [Google wants] to.” He did not comment on the matter during the earnings call aside from noting that Disney “built a hedge” into talks understanding that it could take some time.
The YouTube TV-Disney blackout has stretched for two weeks, and a Morgan Stanley analyst has estimated that the company is losing $30 million/week in revenue. Alex Sherman of CNBC reported early Thursday that the companies had made “a lot of progress” over the last 24 hours and were negotiating late into Wednesday night. Per Sherman, one of the remaining issues concerns the ESPN Unlimited direct-to-subscriber service and YouTube’s desire to make sure that any content available on the DTC service is available through YouTube TV.
Sherman reported that YouTube TV wants to protect against the possibility of ESPN moving sports from linear television to the Unlimited DTC service — thus missing out on ESPN exclusive programming despite paying a premium rate by providing access through its interface. Currently, ESPN Unlimited cannot be authenticated using a YouTube subscription, though Disney reportedly hopes to have that option available for Comcast and YouTube subscribers by year’s end.
MLS to introduce new calendar in 2027
Major League Soccer owners voted Thursday to implement a new summer-to-spring calendar in 2027 following a successful vote at Thursday’s MLS Board of Governors meeting Thursday, the league announced. The change more closely aligns MLS with European leagues overseas.
The MLS Cup is taking place in May under the new format with regular-season play beginning in mid-July and lasting through April. Sources told Alex Silverman of Sports Business Journal that MLS would hold a “sprint season” consisting of 14 games from February to May as a transition.
MLS commissioner Don Garber has been an advocate of the new scheduling change, which reduces competition against NFL and college football playoff games. Owners reportedly wanted the calendar change to be instituted in 2026, something that would have eliminated overlap with the FIFA World Cup. MLS is going to pause its season next year amid the competition, according to comments made last June by MLS SVP of game schedule management Brad Pursel.
The vote on the calendar came the same day as reports that MLS rightsholder Apple TV is set to discontinue its “MLS Season Pass” streaming subscription, moving MLS matches to its base tier.
Brooks passes away after battle with cancer
Longtime New York Post hockey columnist Larry Brooks passed away Thursday after a battle with cancer at the age of 75. Brooks, who was honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018, spent 38 years at the Post across two separate stints with the newspaper, primarily focusing on Rangers coverage. Between stints with the Post, he joined the New Jersey Devils as the team’s vice president of communications and remained with the organization for a decade.
Over the years, Brooks was a consistent presence in and around the league, known for a blunt, unapologetic approach that made him an authoritative voice in hockey media coverage.
“Larry’s love of hockey was evident in his writing at the New York Post in two stints over nearly four decades,” Gary Bettman, commissioner of the National Hockey League, said in a statement. “Larry didn’t pull punches and when you read his work, you always knew where he stood. He was a staunch advocate for the players and for the reporters who cover the game.”
Brooks had been on a leave of absence from the Post since last month.
Plus: Warner Bros. Discovery, College Football Playoff, Las Vegas Grand Prix, NBC Olympics
- Comcast, Netflix and Paramount are preparing to submit bids for Warner Bros. Discovery ahead of an initial deadline, according to a report from Joe Flint and Lauren Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. Paramount is reportedly looking at a bid for the entire company, while Comcast and Netflix are said to be primarily interested in the streaming and studios properties.
- Mack Rhoades has stepped down from his role as chair the College Football Playoff Selection Committee for personal reasons shortly after taking a leave of absence from his job as athletic director at Baylor amid a university investigation. Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek will be stepping into the role for the remainder of the 2025 football season, it was announced Thursday.
- Liberty Media’s F1 and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority are in early talks to ink a long-term deal to retain the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, according to Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The entities had signed a two-year agreement to keep the race in the city through 2027, and discussions could reportedly result in a pact between five and 10 years.
- Play-by-play announcer Jason Knapp and analyst Kevin Martin will return to NBC Olympics coverage of curling this February from the Milan Cortina Winter Games, it was announced Thursday. Kira K. Dixon will report on this coverage for the first time in her career and also be on the call with Knapp and Martin for the U.S. Olympic and U.S. Paralympic team trials.
