If there was ever any doubt, Jim Nantz is staying put at CBS. Plus: the NFL is reportedly ditching conference affiliation for games on FOX and CBS; Dick Stockton is retiring; CBS is loading up on soccer.
Nantz staying put at CBS
CBS has reached a multi-year contract extension with play-by-play voice Jim Nantz, the network said Thursday. Sports Business Journal was first to report the news. Per the New York Post, which reported earlier this year that Nantz wanted a significant raise in his $6.5 million/year salary, CBS offered Nantz as much as $10.5 million/year during negotiations.
Front Office Sports reported earlier this year that ESPN could have interest in Nantz if his negotiations with CBS went south. Per SBJ, Nantz never got the point of having serious discussions with other networks. [SBJ 3.25, NYP 3.25]
Report: NFL ditching conference affiliation for games on FOX, CBS
According to Sports Business Journal, the NFL is abandoning conference affiliation for games on FOX and CBS as part of its new media rights deals with those networks. Instead of FOX primarily airing NFC games and CBS AFC games, each network will pick a set of teams from the respective conferences to carry a certain number of times per season. The change begins when the new deal kicks in with the 2023 season. [SBJ 3.25]
Dick Stockton retires
FOX NFL play-by-play voice Dick Stockton announced his retirement Thursday, ending a 55-year career that included lengthy stints with FOX, CBS and Turner Sports. He was the lead voice of the NBA on CBS from 1982-90 and called nine NBA Finals during the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson era. Arguably his most famous call came with NBC, on Carlton Fisk’s extra-inning home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. [Fox Sports PR]
CBS loading up on soccer rights
CBS Sports announced Thursday that it has acquired rights to Serie A soccer beginning this August, just its latest soccer acquisition. Just one day earlier, CBS announced its acquisition of the CONCACAF 2022 World Cup qualifiers and of Argentina’s Liga Profesional de Futbol. In each deal, the majority of matches will be carried by Paramount+ (formerly CBS All-Access).
The CBS Serie A deal runs through 2024. ESPN currently holds the rights and next month is scheduled to carry a match on ABC for the first time (Atalanta-Fiorentina on April 11). [CBS Sports PR]
