NFL may have found new buyers for its media assets in Skydance, Paramount

After many months of hawking its NFL Media assets, the league may have found a buyer in Skydance Media and top investor RedBird Capital.

A new report from Lucas Shaw and Randall Williams at Bloomberg shows a tangled web of business dealings between the NFL, Skydance, RedBird, and Paramount, where the NFL is pursuing a payout that would allow it to offload some of its media assets.

Currently, Paramount is an NFL broadcaster through its linear network CBS. Skydance is in the process of merging with Paramount but also has a separate preexisting relationship with the NFL. The league owns equity in Skydance and coproduces programs like Hard Knocks with the entertainment company. RedBird is a private equity firm that also owns an even larger stake in Skydance while also partnering with the NFL through its subsidiary EverPass Media, which distributes Sunday Ticket to bars and restaurants for the league.

Based on the Bloomberg report, it sounds as if Skydance is considering multiple options as it finalizes its merger with Paramount and CBS:

• A full purchase of NFL Media, which would result in Skydance/Paramount taking over NFL Network, digital content, and RedZone
• A buyout of the NFL’s stake in Skydance, which could allow Skydance to absorb all production of content like Hard Knocks

Perhaps Skydance/Paramount could buy a portion of NFL media assets rather than the full thing under the second option. Or, it simply works as a strengthening of the league’s long ties to CBS while boosting its digital offerings, where it has pushed significant cost-cutting at the cable network and digital department.

The NFL holds a “change of control” provision in its contract with Paramount, but Commissioner Roger Goodell previously expressed that the league would not exercise that right.

It’s also important to note RedBird is led in part by Jeff Shell and Jeff Zucker, two men who ran NBC Universal and have significant experience overseeing sports media portfolios (Zucker also worked at Warner Bros. Discovery for years). RedBird already has the United Football League and LeBron James’ SpringHill Entertainment in its portfolio.

An expanded arrangement with these companies could make more sense than an equity deal with ESPN, which the NFL reportedly explored until this summer.

[Bloomberg]