NFL owners approve more international games starting in 2027; Versant CEO Mark Lazarus discusses the company’s approach to sports streaming; and Dave Flemming is joining NBC Sports. Plus news on Marty Smith, Fox Sports, Gray Media and the Radio Hall of Fame.
NFL owners approve up to 10 international games for 2027 season
NFL owners on Tuesday voted to schedule a maximum of 10 International Series games per year starting next season, per the Associated Press. As part of the vote, teams will no longer be allowed to protect home games from being selected for international play.
While the league is playing nine games internationally this season, only eight had been permitted under the ongoing collective bargaining agreement. The ninth game is the result of a separate NFLPA-approved deal between the Jaguars and Wembley Stadium. As a result, the league could feasibly hold more than 10 international games next year, moving closer to a goal set by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to play 16 matchups outside of the United States annually.
NFL games will take place in Melbourne, Paris and Rio de Janeiro for the first time this season, while London, Madrid, Mexico City and Munich return to the schedule. The league has increased its total of international games for the last four years after canceling its five-game slate amid the global pandemic in 2020. NFL EVP/club business and league events Peter O’Reilly said the international games allow the league to lay the “foundation” for a potential international Super Bowl “on a far off horizon.”
An expansion of the international slate to 16 games per season could accompany a broader increase of the NFL schedule to 18 games per team. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft suggested in January that an 18-game schedule would include each team playing an international game every year. The NFL collective bargaining agreement runs through 2030, and any change to the schedule would require mutual agreement between the two sides. NFLPA interim director David White said in February that its “members have no appetite for an 18-game regular season,” citing injury concerns and earnings.
Lazarus: Versant making sports available for streaming would be done “in conjunction with the MVPDs”
Versant CEO Mark Lazarus said Wednesday that the company does not plan to stream its sports content outside of the MVPD ecosystem, saying that any streaming options would be done in partnership with the pay TV world. Lazarus, who spoke at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media & Communications Conference, said that Versant is not “looking to run around” its MVPD partners.
While Versant-owned networks continue to air sports content from its previous NBC affiliation, that content is only available on Peacock as part of previously struck rights deals. Prior to the separation, USA Sports president Matt Hong said that the company would have the option to partner with Peacock and “other third-party streamers” for sports rights.
Versant is looking to diversify its revenue stream to a 50-50 split between linear television networks and non-pay television sources, a split that Lazarus said on the “Channels” podcast with Peter Kafka is about 80-20 at the moment. The company shared in its annual proxy filing that it wants to garner “approximately 33%” of its revenue from non-pay TV sources in the next three to five years. Versant generated $6.7 billion in total revenue in FY2025, during which its assets were still held by Comcast and its NBCUniversal subsidiary, on adjusted EBITDA of $2.42 billion.
Lazarus said Wednesday that he believes there is “some stabilization” in the pay television business and noted the potential to “arrest the decline” through higher ratings. Furthermore, he reiterated his point about potential opportunities with the NFL trying to renegotiate its media rights contracts and acknowledged potential to take part in sublicensing, “especially in the college space when there is so much content.”
Flemming joins NBC Sports
Longtime San Francisco Giants radio broadcaster Dave Flemming is joining NBC Sports as a national play-by-play announcer for its “MLB Sunday Leadoff” coverage on Peacock/NBCSN, the company announced Tuesday. Flemming, who has been calling Giants games on KNBR for 23 years, primarily alongside Jon Miller, will debut on Pirates-Blue Jays this Sunday. In addition to his radio responsibilities, Flemming calls select Giants games on television with NBC Sports Bay Area.
Flemming has broadcast MLB’s international World Series feed for the last four seasons and he also calls college football, basketball and major golf competitions for ESPN. He has also called MLB playoff games on ESPN Radio and is part of the network’s coverage of the Little League World Series. Outside of his national work, Flemming was also the play-by-play voice of Stanford football and filled in on radio broadcasts of Golden State Warriors basketball.
Flemming is the third different play-by-play announcer NBC Sports will have used on its MLB broadcasts this season, the first under a three-year media rights deal reportedly worth $200 million annually. Detroit Tigers play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti is the primary voice of “Sunday Night Baseball, while MLB Network host Matt Vasgersian calls most of the “MLB Sunday Leadoff” games. As is the case for Benetti and Vasgersian, Flemming will be working with analysts who have ties to the competing teams, debuting this weekend with Pittsburgh SportsNet analyst Matt Capps and NBC Sports analyst Dexter Fowler.
NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood had previously revealed that the network had an agreement with one more play-by-play announcer during a conference call in March, which seemingly would be Flemming. Unlike the “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcasts, the “MLB Sunday Leadoff” games have featured reporters such as John Fanta and Caroline Pineda.
Plus: Marty Smith, Fox Sports, Gray Media, Radio Hall of Fame
- ESPN host/reporter Marty Smith will host TNT Sports’ NASCAR prerace coverage starting next month, according to a report by Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal. Smith, who joined ESPN as a NASCAR reporter, will remain with the network. His new TNT duties, per Karp, are related to ESPN’s licensing agreement to carry the TNT-produced NBA studio shows “NBA Tip-Off” and “Inside the NBA.” Prior to joining ESPN, Smith covered NASCAR for Speed Channel and Fox Sports.
- Fox Sports has revealed its full studio lineup for its coverage of the FIFA World Cup 26, which includes former athletes such as Nigeria DM John Obi Mikel, Spain M Thiago Alcǎntara and Colombia F Juan Pablo Ángel. The company is also bringing back former U.S. Soccer players Alexi Lalas, Carli Lloyd, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, all of whom have covered soccer for the network previously. Rob Stone returns as a host for the tournament, while Rebecca Lowe, Jules Breach and Pien Meulensteen make their debuts hosting tournament coverage for Fox Sports. The network previously announced several studio analysts, such as Zlatan Ibrahimović, Javier “Chicharito” Hernández and Thierry Henry.
- The Phoenix Suns and Mercury have extended their media rights partnership with Gray Media through 2030 to continue airing games on over-the-air television while also creating a new, centralized streaming option via the Arizona’s Family Sports app, per a report by Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal. The teams had previously been streaming games under a deal with Kiswe. The Suns were the first NBA team to leave the then-Diamond Sports Gropu RSNs for an over-the-air platform, doing so in 2023.
- The Museum of Broadcast Communications announced Wednesday that eight industry professionals would be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame this October, including iHeartMedia chairman/CEO Bob Pittman and WFAN host Boomer Esiason. Pittman has led iHeartMedia since 2011 as the company has navigated a changing media industry, restructuring its balance sheet and altering its corporate structure. Esiason, a former NFL QB for the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets, has hosted morning drive on the station for 18 years and also co-hosts an NFL kickoff show with Mike Valenti.
