Archives
‘Not realistic’ Apple numbers and lack of alternative led to sudden Pac-12 exits: ‘We were literally hours away from a deal.’
Washington State president cites media and tech layoffs for delay in announcing Pac-12 TV deal
"At least one of the partners we were talking to said, 'We’re ready to sign today, but the optics of us announcing that we’re laying off X number of people and we signed a multimillion-dollar deal with the Pac-12 are just not the best, so we’re going to have to wait six weeks.'"
Nick Khan sees ESPN gaining more NBA rights with TNT potentially losing some in next rights deal
"The beneficiary of that? NBA…"
Netflix’s Ted Sarandos says they’re not chasing big live sports rights: ‘We’re not anti-sports, we’re just pro-profit.’
"I’m very confident we can get twice as big as we are without sports."
Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest set to stay on ESPN platforms through 2029
"You can’t beat the spectacle that is the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. It’s a sports calendar and Fourth of July staple, one of those classic, timeless events we know fans look forward to every year."
In attempt to lower next rights deal, WBD’s David Zaslav says ‘We don’t have to have the NBA’
Comments from executives on upcoming rights deals often don't pan out. We'll see what happens with these ones from Zaslav.
Big 12 signs deals with ESPN and Fox through 2030-31, with a 90 percent average annual value jump
The Big 12 is set to make much more money in media rights beginning in 2025-26.
Pac-12’s George Kliavkoff says ‘Eventually, we’ll catch’ SEC and Big Ten, a highly implausible scenario
"It will take a couple of steps, but we’re going to take a step towards closing that gap. Then we’re going to be looking at expansion. We’re going to be looking at schools that make sense for us."
Big 12 to start media rights talks with Fox and ESPN 18 months early
This comes a year and a half ahead of the contractually-mandated window for extension talks in February 2024.
Burke Magnus on ESPN turning down $380 million Big Ten package: ‘I think it was the right decision for us.’
"I think it was the right decision for us, mostly because of what was available, what was on offer to us to buy, which is not what we were hoping for."
Big Ten reportedly “not done” expanding after $1.1 billion/year rights deals, which include escalator clause
CBS’ Big Ten deal will reportedly let them keep their 3:30 p.m. ET SEC slot in 2023
Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated reports that "The Big Ten’s deal will be arranged in a way to allow CBS to fulfill its SEC duties in the first year of the contract."
Big East announces three-year rights extension with FloSports
"FloSports has been a fantastic platform to showcase our women’s basketball and Olympic Sports programs, as well as the original content our outstanding in-house digital team creates throughout the year."
ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro says they’re still in talks with Big Ten: “We are very much in it right now.”
"We enter these discussions understanding that we can’t get everything and that we’re going to proceed with both discipline and thoughtfulness. So I can’t tell you how this is going to play out. We are very much in it right now."
NBC and Telemundo reach six-year extension with Premier League, reportedly worth $2.7 billion
In the end, the Premier League stuck with NBC. But NBC will be paying a lot more this time.
ESPN may move away from regular national MLB games on Mondays and Wednesdays in a new deal
A new MLB-ESPN contract might look different, especially when it comes to regular national Monday and Wednesday games.
Fox is reportedly willing to pay up to $2 billion a year for Sunday NFL games, a giant increase
Fox currently pays around $1.08 billion annually for its Sunday NFL package. A new Bloomberg report suggests that figure might almost double in the next rights deal.
