ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro discusses “give and take” within its sports rights portfolio; Fandango plans to expand in entertainment and sports content; and the NHL schedule includes more Monday matinee games. Plus news on the Atlanta Hawks, Scripps Sports, New York Yankees and David Steele.
Pitaro discusses “give and take” regarding sports rights
In an interview from the CNBC x Boardroom Game Plan Conference Thursday, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said that there would be some “give and take” regarding the company’s sports rights portfolio as the National Football League reportedly looks to renegotiate its existing media rights contracts. While touting the network’s current rights portfolio as “the best” in company history — and potentially “the best portfolio that the sports industry has ever seen” — Pitaro also stressed that it was built “with discipline” using a “very sophisticated rights acquisition team” running a “sophisticated model” to reject any deals that are “bad for business.”
“We’ve walked away from many partnerships — long-term, decades-long partnerships with leagues and conferences, and oftentimes it’s been painful, but if we don’t think it’s going to be productive for our business, we’re not going to do it,” Pitaro said. ESPN just this past week lost rights to the German Bundesliga, a property for which it was paying $30 million/year.
As for the NFL, Pitaro declined comment on any specific conversations with the league, but said that ESPN’s relationship with the league — now a minority owner in the network — “is in a great place.” Pitaro: “We spend a ton of time together, speak to them every week,” Pitaro said of the NFL. “We are super focused on identifying ways to not just grow ESPN but grow the game of football in partnership with them. Right now, my focus is on the upcoming season, honestly. And so we, I think, have the best ‘Monday Night Football’ schedule we’ve ever had, and that will lead into ESPN’s first Super Bowl in February.”
The NFL officially acquired a 10% equity stake in ESPN earlier this year as part of a deal Disney sell some of its media assets, including NFL Network and linear distribution rights to “NFL RedZone.” Despite the minority ownership, NFL EVP/media distribution Hans Schroeder said last year that the league would maintain “an arm’s length” in future negotiations with Disney.
Fandango expanding with entertainment, sports programming
Versant is moving deeper into the streaming ecosystem as it brings entertainment and sports programming within the Fandango ecosystem. The advertising-supported video-on-demand platform is refreshing its branding and adding new content available for free through the platform. Fandango will also stream a majority of Bundesliga matches included in the new rights deal with USA Sports, the first time one of its new properties will have some content exclusive to a streamer.
Will McIntosh, the president of digital platforms for Versant, told Alex Weprin of The Hollywood Reporter that “the [free streaming] market has been validated by some of the largest players” and mentioned Fox-owned Tubi, Paramount-owned Pluto and Roku Channel among them. That market is actively consolidating, as Tubi and Roku could soon be under the same Fox Corporation umbrella pending a deal expected to close early next year. McIntosh also touted the platform’s theatrical programming as a “unique advantage” over the other free streamers.
Versant has repeatedly stressed its plan is to generate 50% of revenue from non-pay television sources. It is not yet clear how much linear content will be carried on the service. Versant president of entertainment Val Boreland said that while not everything has to be on Fandango immediately, “it does need to be there at some point” and that the company is “not precious about it living on a third-party platform as well.” USA Sports president Matt Hong has previously discussed partnering with third-party streamers in certain instances for its sports programming.
Versant executives have repeatedly stressed that USA Sports programming is exclusive to linear television and that the only streaming options would be will be through cable authentication. USA Network will air at least 30 Bundesliga games within the overall package, and those will not be available on Fandango.
NHL schedule includes additional Monday weekday matinee games
The expanded 84-game NHL regular season schedule will include consistent Monday weekday matinee games, corresponding with primetime television in Europe, it was announced Thursday. The slate begins with a 1 PM ET Panthers-Sabres game on October 12, before a run of five-straight from November 30 (Senators-Predators at 1 PM) through December 28 (Golden Knights-Wild at 2 PM). After the new year, additional windows include Islanders-Panthers on February 1 (1 PM), Lightning-Capitals on March 15 (1 PM) and Flyers-Hurricanes on April 5 (2 PM), plus the usual Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day matinees. DAZN holds most of the league’s rights in Europe, and television outlets such as Sky Deutschland and Viaplay have deals in other countries.
The new season begins Tuesday, September 29, matching the earliest start in league history. (The 2007-08 season also began September 29, but only for the teams who were playing in the league’s international slate. The rest of the league began play in October.) The Opening Night slate expands to five games, consisting of an all-American tripleheader on ESPN and an all-Canadian doubleheader on Rogers Sportsnet. ESPN will have the defending champion Hurricanes against the Panthers at 5 PM ET, Rangers-Bruins in primetime at 8 PM and Blackhawks-Golden Knights in the 10:30 PM nightcap. Sportsnet will have Canadiens-Maple Leafs at 7:00 and Canucks-Oilers at 10:00. (Note that Sportsnet games will no longer be simulcast on CBC this season.)
TNT Sports begins its season the following night with a doubleheader Penguins-Flyers and Avalanche-Kings. The company carries the Stanley Cup Final for the last time in the NHL’s current media rights deal. As is typical, the rest of the nationally televised slate will be announced at a later date, save for contractually-determined slots like the Winter Classic on TNT.
Other highlights on the NHL schedule include all 32 teams playing October 13 and April 10. One of those dates will likely be the annual “Frozen Frenzy” whiparound initiative on ESPN networks.
Plus: Atlanta Hawks, Scripps Sports, New York Yankees, David Steele
- The Atlanta Hawks are moving regional game broadcasts to Gray Media-owned Atlanta News First and Peachtree Sports Network next season, becoming the latest franchise formerly affiliated with Main Street Sports Group to opt for an over-the-air option. The Hawks are the fourth team to leave the traditional RSN model this offseason, joining the Milwaukee Bucks (MY24), Miami Heat (WPLG Local 10) and Detroit Pistons (WMYD Detroit). Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reported Wednesday that all of the teams who formerly worked with Main Street Sports Group are inking one-year deals so they can move to a forthcoming centralized local streaming platform.
- Scripps acquired rights to next year’s edition of the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Cup, which is going to take place in the United States and Canada. Coverage of the event is scheduled to air on ION and the Scripps Sports FAST channel, joining a portfolio with considerable women’s sports rights, including the WNBA, NWSL and the PWHL among others. The FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Cup aired through CBS Sports and the Big Ten Network last year.
- The New York Yankees are in advanced talks with Apollo Global Management about a financing raise of about $3 billion within “a package that includes mostly debt and some equity,” according to a report by Jared Diamond and Andrew Beaton of The Wall Street Journal. Apollo, which is a minority owner of YES Network, created a sports investment company last year that purchased a majority stake in Atlético Madrid. Yankee Global Enterprises, the holding company that owns the Yankees, also has AC Milan, New York City FC, Legends Hospitality and YES in its portfolio.
- David Steele, one of the inaugural voices of Orlando Magic basketball starting on radio in 1989 and later moving to television, is retiring from the role, it was announced earlier this week. Steele, who most recently broadcast games alongside Jeff Turner on FanDuel Sports Network Florida, said in a statement that “it is time for me to put the microphone down and spend time with my family.” Dante Marchitelli has been named the new television play-by-play announcer for the Magic, moving into the position after working as a studio host and sideline reporter for the last 18 years.
