A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sport newsletter with Alex Sherman, which brings you the biggest news and exclusive interviews from the worlds of sports business and media. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. A CNBC Sport scoop to start your morning – Warner Bros. Discovery’s Bleacher Report has struck a multiyear content partnership with the NFL, giving the media company game footage for its digital properties and in-game field access for new projects. For the first time, NFL fans will be able to watch highlights and game recaps through Bleacher Report’s app. Bleacher Report can also utilize NFL highlights for new and existing shows, such as “The Edge with Micah Parsons ,” where the Dallas Cowboys defensive star gives his thoughts on what’s happening throughout the league. “Previously, Micah [Parsons] would be talking about something that happened in the week that was. Now we’ll actually be able to unlock footage from the NFL and insert it into the show,” said Bleacher Report General Manager Bennett Spector in an interview. The deal crystalizes Warner Bros. Discovery’s sports strategy: become a major sports hub for a younger audience while saving money on the most expensive live rights. This agreement with the NFL comes less than two months after CEO David Zaslav ‘s company struck a deal with the NBA for access to highlights and international games. WBD has also sublicensed college games from ESPN, both for the College Football Playoffs and for Big 12 football and basketball. That, too, is an effort to showcase itself as a major player for sports rights while doing it on the cheap. Rather than bidding on the full package of games, WBD has found a loophole – at least for certain sports. Zaslav is playing the cards he’s been dealt. Warner Bros. Discovery has a market capitalization of $24 billion. Shares have dropped by more than 50% since WarnerMedia and Discovery closed its merger in April 2022. The company can’t win a spending war against Disney, Comcast, Netflix, Amazon and other competitors with much larger balance sheets. Still, WBD has built a fairly large portfolio of rights. The company doesn’t have an NFL or an NBA package anymore (after this year), but it does have game rights for MLB, the NHL, the French Open, NASCAR, the new women’s basketball league Unrivaled, the Big East, and AEW. “I think WBD has been very smart in not overpaying, but smartly paying for the rights that continue to engage fans,” said Spector. Now all the company needs to do is convince investors. *** Earlier this week, DirecTV announced its version of Venu, the recently scrapped sports-focused streaming service. DirecTV’s MySports skinny bundle will include 40 sports and broadcast channels. The primary ones are from Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox and NBCUniversal. Both ESPN and ESPN+ are included. You may recall, Venu was basically the same product, but it didn’t include NBCUniversal’s properties. (By way of disclosure, NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.) Disney, in particular, is looking for a product that will deliver ESPN to customers at different price points. The company hasn’t announced its price for ESPN’s forthcoming all-inclusive, direct-to-consumer product, which will launch around August. But, a price of somewhere between $25 and $35 per month is widely expected. Products such as Fubo or YouTube TV are priced around $80 per month or more, depending on the package. Venu’s initial price was $42.99 per month – priced to fit in between ESPN Flagship and the cheapest linear TV packages that include ESPN. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch estimated Venu would have about 5 million customers after five years had it launched. This DirecTV product is priced at $49.99 for three months, at which point it jumps to $69.99 thereafter. That’s $27 more per month than Venu for almost the same product. MySports includes NBC and its sports cable channels (USA and The Golf Channel), and a few other smaller networks. That’s not even close to $27 per month of value. Needless to say, on a relative basis to the now-defunct Venu, this new offering is not a good deal. DirecTV plans to add regional sports networks to its bundle, but they will be tiered – meaning, customers will have to pay more for their local RSN. But, compared to what’s out there on the market as of now, DirecTV’s new package is a cheaper way to get ESPN. The difference in price between MySports and Venu illustrates why Fubo and DirecTV were against the concept of Venu to begin with. “At $43, that was a pretty challenging content cost,” acknowledged DirecTV Chief Marketing Officer Vince Torres in an interview. “The cost of sports is what it is.” Sadly, consumers lose out here, at least in the near term. The value of Venu was arguably never about Venu, itself. Rather, it was about setting a skinny bundle precedent for other distributors at a new, lower price point. Without its existence, and threat of competition, the price won’t be as low. On the record With Main Street Sports CEO David Preschlack … If you’re interested in the evolution of regional sports networks, there’s probably no one more central to the story right now than David Preschlack , the CEO of what used to be called Diamond Sports Group and is now called Main Street Sports. Earlier this month, Main Street Sports officially emerged from bankruptcy, ending a nearly two-year ordeal. Preschlack was CEO for the entire process. His job was to keep the company alive and avoid full liquidation – and there were moments along the way where a shutdown seemed possible, he revealed to me. But, Preschlack was able to convince creditors, teams and the NBA, NHL and MLB to keep his company alive. Diamond Sports entered bankruptcy with $9 billion in debt. Today, the company has $200 million in debt. Main Street owns local sports rights for 29 teams – 13 from the NBA, nine from MLB, and eight from the NHL. Preschlack told me more than 75% of the rights are locked up past 2025. We discussed how regional sports networks will survive in a streaming-first world, and if Main Street’s current streaming price of $19.99 per month for one RSN or $29.99 per month for two (in regions where fans have access to two) is too expensive. “We have the ability to go lower,” Preschlack told me. “We’re going to test different price points.” Watch the full interview. CNBC Sport highlight reel The best of CNBC Sport from the past week: Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment announced Monday a joint venture with Comcast Spectator to build a new arena in South Philadelphia for the NBA’s 76ers and the NHL’s Flyers. The stadium is scheduled to open in 2031. Comcast will become a minority owner in the 76ers, although I’m told the stake is “tiny” – Comcast isn’t in the business of owning sports teams, and in fact sold the 76ers to Josh Harris in 2011. Comcast will also join HBSE’s bid to bring a WNBA team to Philly and get naming rights to the arena. CNBC’s Jess Golden has more details . Sports leagues and 12 LA sports teams, including the Lakers and the Dodgers, have made donations to fire relief efforts in Los Angeles. CNBC’s Russell Leung has the story. Avenue Capital’s Marc Lasry stopped by “Squawk Box” this week to explain his philosophy in sports investing, which basically boils down to how many people watch events. His strategy is to invest in sports before they become part of the national conscience. That’s led him to professional bull riding and women’s sports at the moment. The big number: $993 That’s the average price for a ticket on StubHub for this week’s Detroit Lions-Washington Commanders NFC Divisional Round game. That’s by far the most expensive ticket for the week, according to StubHub. Both teams’ fan bases are hungry, and apparently, they’ve been saving up their pennies. According to Gametime , as of Wednesday, the lowest priced ticket available was $412, with top tickets available for $1,690 each. Quote of the week “To hear from Jerry Jones is truly delightful, and it’s intriguing.” — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has spoken with “Prime Time” Deion Sanders about becoming the team’s next head coach. A formal interview hasn’t happened yet, but Sanders, who was a Cowboy in 1996 when Dallas last won a Super Bowl, would bring some luster back to Arlington, Texas. Around the league The New York Times reports Saudi Arabia is close to acquiring up to a 10% stake in DAZN, the global sports streaming platform funded by billionaire Len Blavatnik. Hey TGL fans: You may not know this, but golf can actually be played outside too. The PGA Tour is back with the 2025 American Express at PGA West in La Quinta, California. The tournament begins today and can be watched exclusively on TV on Golf Channel. PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ , NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App will all have streaming coverage. Last week, I couldn’t quite coax Amazon’s head of sports Jay Marine into saying he expected Prime Video to set a ratings record for a streaming service with its NFL Wild Card game. (You can watch that interview here .) Now I know why. Amazon fell short of both Peacock’s Wild Card game’s ratings from last year and Netflix’s Christmas games last month. The Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers playoff game averaged 22 million viewers. For comparison, Peacock last year averaged 23 million viewers for its Wild Card game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins. Netflix’s Xmas games averaged 26.5 million U.S. viewers. Scott O’Neil is the new Chief Executive Officer of LIV Golf, replacing Greg Norman. O’Neil had been CEO of Merlin Entertainments, which owns attractions and theme parks including Legoland and Madame Tussauds. Before that, he was CEO for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment — the same company that’s going halfsies with Comcast on the 76ers and Flyers stadium. Full circle this week in CNBC Sport.
Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) reaches for the pylon and scores a touchdown during the regular season NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers on December 25, 2024 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA.
Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images
A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sport newsletter with Alex Sherman, which brings you the biggest news and exclusive interviews from the worlds of sports business and media. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
A CNBC Sport scoop to start your morning – Warner Bros. Discovery’s Bleacher Report has struck a multiyear content partnership with the NFL, giving the media company game footage for its digital properties and in-game field access for new projects.
For the first time, NFL fans will be able to watch highlights and game recaps through Bleacher Report’s app. Bleacher Report can also utilize NFL highlights for new and existing shows, such as “The Edge with Micah Parsons,” where the Dallas Cowboys defensive star gives his thoughts on what’s happening throughout the league.
“Previously, Micah [Parsons] would be talking about something that happened in the week that was. Now we’ll actually be able to unlock footage from the NFL and insert it into the show,” said Bleacher Report General Manager Bennett Spector in an interview.
The deal crystalizes Warner Bros. Discovery’s sports strategy: become a major sports hub for a younger audience while saving money on the most expensive live rights. This agreement with the NFL comes less than two months after CEO David Zaslav‘s company struck a deal with the NBA for access to highlights and international games.
WBD has also sublicensed college games from ESPN, both for the College Football Playoffs and for Big 12 football and basketball. That, too, is an effort to showcase itself as a major player for sports rights while doing it on the cheap. Rather than bidding on the full package of games, WBD has found a loophole – at least for certain sports.
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Zaslav is playing the cards he’s been dealt. Warner Bros. Discovery has a market capitalization of $24 billion. Shares have dropped by more than 50% since WarnerMedia and Discovery closed its merger in April 2022. The company can’t win a spending war against Disney, Comcast, Netflix, Amazon and other competitors with much larger balance sheets.
Still, WBD has built a fairly large portfolio of rights. The company doesn’t have an NFL or an NBA package anymore (after this year), but it does have game rights for MLB, the NHL, the French Open, NASCAR, the new women’s basketball league Unrivaled, the Big East, and AEW.
“I think WBD has been very smart in not overpaying, but smartly paying for the rights that continue to engage fans,” said Spector.
Now all the company needs to do is convince investors.
***
Earlier this week, DirecTV announced its version of Venu, the recently scrapped sports-focused streaming service. DirecTV’s MySports skinny bundle will include 40 sports and broadcast channels. The primary ones are from Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox and NBCUniversal. Both ESPN and ESPN+ are included.
You may recall, Venu was basically the same product, but it didn’t include NBCUniversal’s properties. (By way of disclosure, NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.)
Disney, in particular, is looking for a product that will deliver ESPN to customers at different price points. The company hasn’t announced its price for ESPN’s forthcoming all-inclusive, direct-to-consumer product, which will launch around August. But, a price of somewhere between $25 and $35 per month is widely expected.
Products such as Fubo or YouTube TV are priced around $80 per month or more, depending on the package.
Venu’s initial price was $42.99 per month – priced to fit in between ESPN Flagship and the cheapest linear TV packages that include ESPN. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch estimated Venu would have about 5 million customers after five years had it launched.
This DirecTV product is priced at $49.99 for three months, at which point it jumps to $69.99 thereafter.
That’s $27 more per month than Venu for almost the same product. MySports includes NBC and its sports cable channels (USA and The Golf Channel), and a few other smaller networks. That’s not even close to $27 per month of value.
Needless to say, on a relative basis to the now-defunct Venu, this new offering is not a good deal. DirecTV plans to add regional sports networks to its bundle, but they will be tiered – meaning, customers will have to pay more for their local RSN.
But, compared to what’s out there on the market as of now, DirecTV’s new package is a cheaper way to get ESPN.
The difference in price between MySports and Venu illustrates why Fubo and DirecTV were against the concept of Venu to begin with.
“At $43, that was a pretty challenging content cost,” acknowledged DirecTV Chief Marketing Officer Vince Torres in an interview. “The cost of sports is what it is.”
Sadly, consumers lose out here, at least in the near term. The value of Venu was arguably never about Venu, itself. Rather, it was about setting a skinny bundle precedent for other distributors at a new, lower price point. Without its existence, and threat of competition, the price won’t be as low.
On the record
With Main Street Sports CEO David Preschlack …
