Main Street Sports Group sends warn notices to employees; Warner Bros. Discovery is resuming discussions with Paramount with seven-day waiver from Netflix; and the executive director of the MLBPA reportedly resigns. Plus news on Netflix, Wasserman, Cam Newton and WGR 550.
Main Street sends warn notices to employees
Main Street Sports Group has sent “warn notices” to all of its employees alerting them that their jobs are going to be eliminated “in approximately 60 days,” according to a report by Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal. The wind-down plan would be abandoned in the event of an immediate liquidation, or perhaps less likely, Main Street striking a last-minute deal with a “strategic partner.”
“FanDuel Sports Network is continuing to broadcast NBA and NHL games as we engage in discussions with our partners about our go-forward plans,” David Preschlack, CEO of Main Street Sports Group, said in a statement provided to Sports Media Watch. “While final decisions have not been made, we have issued WARN notices to employees, as required by law, in connection with potential workforce impacts that could occur in the coming months. Any and all aspects of the WARN notices can be revoked at any time. We remain committed to transparency and fair treatment of our employees.”
Main Street currently intends to continue broadcasting regular-season games for the combined 20 NBA and NHL teams in its portfolio. Friend reported that DAZN remains interested in rights to the remaining teams — either independently of Main Street or as a potentially as a “strategic partner” — but is asking for as much as a 40% cut in rights fees, which teams are not expected to accept. In addition, Friend also said that the NBA has informed “teams not to do any contract extensions, or certainly not long-term deals, with Main Street or any other platform.”
John Ourand of Puck reported last week that the NBA is looking to create a bundle of national and local rights to sell next season and that the league has had talks with some streamers as well. Some of the MLB teams that had previously been televised on Main Street-owned RSNs have opted to work with the league on the production and distribution of games.
Netflix permits WBD to enter discussions with Paramount for seven days
Netflix has granted Warner Bros. Discovery a seven-day waiver to reopen negotiations with Paramount, it was announced Tuesday. WBD disclosed in a letter to the PSKY board that a senior representative from Paramount verbally told a WBD board member that the media conglomerate would boost its offer to $31/share if the two sides were permitted to have discussions, and that would not be its “best and final proposal.”
Under the seven-day waiver, Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount are permitted to have discussions until Monday, Feb. 23 at 11:59 PM ET. Netflix reached a merger agreement with WBD for $27.75/share that does not include properties slated to be spun off to Discovery Global, but it is able to match a Paramount offer should WBD deem it superior. WBD has scheduled a special shareholder meeting for Friday, March 20, and its board continues to unanimously recommend shareholders to vote for the merger with Netflix. In a statement, Netflix expressed confidence about its bid and described Paramount’s efforts as a “distraction” and “antics.”
The development occurs after Paramount issued an amended its hostile tender offer to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery to include a “ticking fee” of $0.25/share for every quarter the deal is not closed after Dec. 31, 2026. The amended bid caused some WBD investors to publicly support engaging with the company. WBD’s board admitted that Paramount’s recently “sweetened” offer did address some of its concerns but nonetheless still had “many of the unfavorable terms and conditions” from proposals it subsequently rejected. WBD would need to pay Netflix a $2.8 billion termination fee if its shareholders agreed to a merger with Paramount.
WBD president/CEO David Zaslav said in a statement that the company is “engaging with PSKY now to determine whether they can deliver an actionable, binding proposal that provides superior value and certainty for WBD shareholders through their best and final offer.” Paramount said that the actions by the WBD Board were “unusual” but expressed it is ready to participate in discussions. “At the same time, we will continue to advance our tender offer, maintain our solicitation in opposition to the inferior Netflix merger, and proceed with our intention to nominate a slate of directors at the upcoming WBD annual meeting.”
Clark reportedly resigns as executive director of MLBPA
Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark resigned Tuesday following accusations of an inappropriate relationship with a union employee who happened to be his sister-in-law, according to a report by Jeff Passan and Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN. His departure comes months ahead of the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement in early December and a potential owner-imposed lockout, and amid an ongoing federal investigation into Clark and the MLBPA pertaining to “financial impropriety.”
Los Angeles Angels P and MLBPA executive subcommittee member Brent Suter told The Athletic that the union is going to announce an interim replacement and will look to keep things stable this year. “Let me tell you, the ship is strong,” Suter said, per The Athletic. “We just need to make the right decisions today and moving forward, and we’ll be just fine.” Bruce Meyer, the deputy executive director of the MLBPA who led its negotiations during the last lockout that delayed the start of the 2022 MLB season, is reportedly “[t]he most obvious candidate.”
“I think we owe it as subcommittee members to speak to all the reps,” New York Mets 2B and MLBPA executive subcommittee member Marcus Semien told reporters on Tuesday, via SNY. “This came out with no discussion with reps — you know, we have 30 other team reps that are seeing this news that it’s like, you know, it’s hard to process right now. So they’ll be a lot more conversations about what we do moving forward in a year where we have a CBA that expires in December.”
The report of Clark’s expected resignation comes ahead of a potential labor dispute amid conversations about introducing a salary cap and improving competitive balance.
Plus: Netflix, Wasserman, Cam Newton, WGR 550
- Netflix announced that it will be airing its first live MMA event on Friday, May 16 featuring a headline matchup from Most Valuable Promotions between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano. The bout, which is going to emanate from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., joins the MMA calendar two weeks before a UFC Fight Night takes place from Galaxy Macau in China.
- Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said on an interview with CNN Tuesday that she thinks Casey Wasserman “should step down” from the LA 2028 Olympics organizing committee. Wasserman, whose name appeared in the Epstein files, is said to have issued an apology to employees at the Wasserman Group after several clients departed, but he is remaining chairman of the organizing committee. The agency is going to have a new name after Wasserman divests his ownership stake of “roughly 40%,” according to a report by Josh Dickey and Sharon Waxman of TheWrap.
- BET has canceled the “106 & Sports” program hosted by Cam Newton and Ashley Nicole Moss after one season and eight episodes, according to a report by Rodney Ho of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Despite this reported cancelation, Newton continues to host various podcasts and agreed to a multiyear deal with ESPN last year to make appearances on “First Take,” while Moss works for CBS Sports as a studio host and analyst.
- Audacy-owned WGR 550 in Buffalo, N.Y. has launched simulcasts on the 104.7 FM and 107.7 FM frequencies, continuing to roll out a local lineup and other programming. The news comes a few weeks after the Buffalo Bills announced in-house production and distribution for radio broadcasts, along with the end of its broadcast partnership with WGR after 14 years.
