The NCAA basketball tournaments are officially expanding to 76 teams; Russell Wilson is mulling between playing football and starting career in television; and Nexstar talks about its new streaming deal with ESPN. Plus news on the NFL, TNT Sports, the Atlanta Dream and CBS Sports.
NCAA basketball tournaments officially expanding to 76 teams
The NCAA officially announced Thursday that it will expand its Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams starting next season, a move that had been under consideration for more than a year. NCAA VP/men’s basketball Dan Gavitt said in a Thursday conference call that the expansion “would not have happened” if not for changes to NCAA sponsorship and advertising policies that are expected to raise the value of its media rights agreement by an average of $50 million over the next six years. Specifically, the NCAA will increase commercial inventory during games and for the first time allow alcohol companies into its “NCAA Corporate Champions and Partners” program.
The expansion is the first for the tournaments since the addition of the “First Four,” which was added to the men’s tournament in 2011 and the women’s in 2022. The “First Four” will be replaced by a new 12-game opening round consisting of the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and at-large selections. Gavitt said that there will be “late afternoon” opening tip times in order to play six games on these days, per Matt Norlander of CBS Sports.
CBS and Turner Sports reached an eight-year media rights extension with the NCAA in 2016 that began in 2024 and runs through 2032, under which they reportedly pay more than $900 million per year to televise the men’s tournament. The “networks were under no obligation to increase their payout for an expanded bracket,” according to a report by Brendan Marks and Justin Williams of The Athletic.
ESPN holds rights to 40 NCAA championships, including the women’s basketball tournament, under an eight-year deal announced in September 2024, reportedly worth $920 million. It remains unknown if the rights fees for Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery and ESPN changed with the tournament expanding to 68 teams.
Wilson reportedly deciding between Jets contract, TV
Free agent QB Russell Wilson is deciding between signing with the New York Jets or working in sports television, according to a report by Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. Wilson, who spoke to reporters at the BTIG Charity Day event on Wednesday, confirmed what was previously reported by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic last week. Marchand described Wilson as being “in deep discussions to go into television” and added that CBS was being viewed as the favorite.
“There’s a lot of great networks and a lot of things, and obviously it’s a great opportunity for me, and we’ll see what happens,” Wilson said. “I just love football. I love ball, being in it in every way, staying ready to play too, and every day I’m training and getting ready, but also too, I think I have a lot of great opportunities.”
Wilson is a 14-year NFL veteran and former Super Bowl champion with the Seattle Seahawks. After starting the first three games last season, he was a backup option behind rookie QB Jaxson Dart. Wilson served as a guest analyst for CBS during the team’s Week 14 bye last year where he worked on the cast with James Brown, Bill Cowher, Nate Burleson and Matt Ryan. Since that time, Ryan departed CBS to become the new president of football for the Atlanta Falcons, creating a vacancy at the desk.
CBS has changed its roster for “The NFL Today” on numerous occasions in the last few years, starting with the departures of Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms after Super Bowl LVIII. J.J. Watt moved into the studio role the next year, but he shifted to live game broadcasts with Ian Eagle and Evan Washburn as Charles Davis worked with a new announcing team before moving to college broadcasts this fall.
Biard: ESPN deal was “evolution” in Nexstar thinking
Nexstar president/COO Michael Biard said in an earnings call this week that he believes the company’s recent agreements to make its content available through ESPN Unlimited and The Roku Channel mark “an evolution” of its strategy rather than a shift. Biard noted that other media companies have suffered financial losses trying to construct and maintain digital platforms, and Nexstar ultimately chose to partner with existing services rather than build one of its own.
“Particularly with respect to The CW and the sports on ESPN, I think where we are in the life cycle of building a sports brand, the opportunity to have our sports available and visible inside the ESPN platform inside a dedicated CW vertical environment will reap rewards for us not just in terms of building the brand equity, but also our ability to monetize viewership on those platforms,” Biard said. “We’re extremely excited about that.”
The CW has steadily expanded its sports programming slate in recent years to encompass almost half of its schedule, including a new rights agreement with the Mountain West Conference starting in the fall. Of course, the network continues to present the NASCAR Xfinity Series, WWE NXT and the Pac-12 Conference. The CW has also aired ACC football and basketball games for the last three years under a deal with Raycom Sports, which sublicenses its rights from ESPN.
Plus: NFL, TNT Sports, Atlanta Dream, CBS Sports
- The NFL will reveal its 2026 regular-season schedule on Thursday, May 14, the league announced on Friday afternoon, one day earlier than the release date last year, after there had been some indications that the release would be later than usual. This week also happens to coincide with the television advertising Upfront events, during which select matchups have been revealed in year’s past. The NFL Kickoff game is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 9 featuring the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
- Seven-time Grand Slam tennis singles champion Venus Williams will return to TNT Sports’ coverage of Roland Garros for the quarterfinals, semifinal and women’s final, it was announced on Thursday. Williams contributed to the broadcast last year primarily through video pieces taped ahead of time. The broadcast roster will once again feature former tennis players such as Andre Agassi, John McEnroe and Caroline Wozniacki, along with new contributor Genie Bouchard. TNT Sports analyst John Isner is also expanding his analyst role for Roland Garros this year.
- Atlanta Dream games will be available to stream free on Victory+ for the upcoming WNBA season, it was announced Thursday. The franchise renewed its partnership with Gray Media around local broadcasts last month, and 26 of its 44 regular-season games will be showcased on Atlanta News First, Peachtree TV and/or Peachtree Sports Network. The Minnesota Lynx became the first professional basketball team to partner with Victory+, inking a multiyear deal with the platform last month.
- In a change from recent years, CBS Sports golf announcers will not contribute to ESPN’s PGA Championship coverage this year, according to a report by Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal. ESPN coverage will feature Scott Van Pelt and Matt Barrie with David Duval, Dave Flemming, Geoff Ogilvy and Curtis Strange. CBS will broadcast the PGA Championship on Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 7 PM ET with Jim Nantz, Trevor Immelman, Andrew Catalon, Colt Knost, Frank Nobilo and Dottie Pepper among others.
