David Berson: ‘Conversations continue’ with NFL despite reportedly stalled rights negotiations

Much of CBS’ NFL Media Day on Tuesday rightfully centered on the fallout from the network’s decision to bench Tony Romo while he addresses his impaired driving arrest from last month. But CBS Sports president David Berson also took a moment to discuss the status of his network’s media rights talks with the NFL, which are reportedly “on hold” until CBS parent company Paramount resolves litigation regarding its agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

Per prior reports, CBS is the only network to have held any sort of formal talks with the NFL about a restructured deal, largely due to the change-of-control provision triggered by Skydance’s purchase of Paramount last summer. The clause allows the NFL to, within a two-year window, take CBS’ package back to market if it chooses to do so, offering the league a level of leverage it does not have over any other partner. Initially, the league’s idea was to strike a restructured deal with CBS, one that would pay the league more money in exchange for more guaranteed years on CBS’ contract, before moving on to negotiations with its other partners to strike similar deals.

But a political blitzkrieg in Washington, one reportedly fueled by Fox patriarch Rupert Murdoch, knocked the NFL off its tracks, delaying proceedings enough to where the league would not reach any new deals before the upcoming season, as was its original intent, and even emboldening Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch to declare his company would not reach any new deal with the NFL until much closer to the league’s opt-out option following the 2029-30 season.

The Murdoch remarks last week led to speculation about whether the NFL would be able to strike new deals with any of its current partners before the end of the decade.

Asked about the status of CBS’ media rights talks with the NFL amid the recent reports, Berson did not rule out a deal before the 2029-30 season.

“We’re in constant conversation; we have so much business with them on so many other levels,” Berson told Awful Announcing at the network’s NFL media gathering. “There’s nothing to report on this right now, but the relationship is outstanding. We’re talking to them every day. I mentioned the viewership success we’ve had, I mentioned they covet reach so much; CBS is the number one network 17 of the last 18 years … so they really value what we provide and we also value what they’re providing. So conversations continue, but there’s nothing at this stage to talk about.”

Asked whether Murdoch’s recent comments changed his network’s calculus, Berson said it doesn’t.

“I’m not going to speak to his [Murdoch’s] stuff, but that doesn’t change anything for us where we have an incredible relationship and we have continued conversation with them about the future.”

While there’s nothing necessarily “new” to report, per Berson, the CBS Sports president is clearly leaving the door open for a restructured deal. Perhaps that’s due to the aforementioned change-of-control provision, one that Fox and Murdoch do not have to navigate. Or perhaps it’s simply a means of not ruling anything out. After all, if the NFL proposed terms to CBS that the network felt were favorable, why wouldn’t they guarantee themselves a few more years of NFL rights? The likelihood of such a thing happening is slim, especially considering the NFL is looking for billions not millions more for the privilege of such certainty.

But Paramount is tossing billions around like Monopoly money these days. And with the uncertainty surrounding its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the network is in no position to pontificate on its future past the next few weeks. That goes for both the future of its NFL rights deal and the future of its top NFL booth.