ESPN had no intention to sublicense CFP games until “very attractive” offer from WBD. Plus: The Paramount merger with Skydance is back on after talks stalled last month; another cable provider has dropped the Bally Sports RSNs; NBC’s Olympic schedule comes into focus.
ESPN had no intention to sublicense CFP games until WBD asked
Warner Bros Discovery reportedly gave ESPN an offer “it couldn’t refuse” for the College Football Playoff games it sublicensed from the network, per Sports Business Journal on Tuesday. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro told SBJ that the network “did not have any intention” to sublicense CFP games, but given the “very attractive” price tag felt the deal was too good to pass up. ESPN reportedly placed a $25m average value on the first round games, though WBD will pay ESPN “an average of ‘hundreds of millions’ per year” according to a CNBC report in May.
Given the timing, an attractive deal from WBD is not all that surprising. The threat of losing its NBA package, which the network has held for over three decades, has found the company scrambling to pickup any sports inventory it can.
As has been previously reported, ESPN will produce the sublicensed games for TNT, and beginning in 2026 the network will also air two quarterfinal matchups. ESPN will keep all the advertising revenue from the sublicensed games. Pitaro also noted on Richard Deitsch‘s podcast last week that ESPN retains the option to sublicense a semifinal game to TNT down the line. (SBJ, 7.2) (CNBC, 5.22)
Paramount-Skydance merger is back on
The merger deal between National Amusement, the controlling shareholder of Paramount, and David Ellison‘s Skydance movie studio is now back on, per reports in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. The reports come weeks after the deal had seemingly fallen apart, and Paramount executives painted a path forward as a standalone entity.
The deal will remain largely similar to the one reported last month, with marginal changes in dollar figures. Skydance will acquire half of Paramount’s controlling shares for around $4.5b. Paramount’s special committee will now review and vote on the new deal.
Paramount owns many premium live sports rights including the NFL, college football, and March Madness under the CBS Sports banner. In addition, Paramount owns and operates staples of the cable bundle including MTV, Nickelodeon, and BET. (WSJ, 7.2) (NYT, 7.2)
Bally Sports goes dark on Optimum
The Bally Sports RSNs have gone dark on another cable system, this time Altice USA’s Optimum, per Sportico on Monday. Optimum is the ninth largest multichannel video service provider in the country with over 2-million subscribers. The cable operator carried 12 of the Bally Sports RSNs across 21 states.
The blackout comes amid larger issues with Bally parent company Diamond Sports Group, who continues its trudge through bankruptcy proceedings. Earlier this year, Diamond was able to secure carriage agreements with its two largest distributors — Charter and DirecTV — before failing to reach a similar deal with Comcast, its third largest distributor. Judge Christopher Lopez, who is overseeing the bankruptcy case, has not yet opined on whether an agreement with Comcast (and now Optimum) would be necessary for Diamond to emerge from bankruptcy. (Sportico, 7.1)
NBC’s Olympic schedule comes into focus
NBC has announced times and networks for several marquee Olympic events. As was previously announced, NBC will air many of the most popular events like track and field, swimming, and basketball live in the daytime window — a departure from what the network has done in past years airing such events on tape delay in primetime.
Team USA’s men’s basketball opener against Serbia will air live on July 28th at 11:15 AM ET. The women’s team will open up on USA Network the following day against Japan at 3PM ET.
Swimming will be highlighted live when four-time Olympian Katie Ledecky seeks another gold in the 1500 freestyle on July 31st at 3PM ET.
As for track and field, NBC will be spotlighting Sha’Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles as both seek to win their respective 100m events. The women’s final will air live on August 3rd at 3PM ET while the men’s will air the following day at 3:50PM ET. (NBC, 7.1)
