Ted Sarandos talks about Netflix\u2019s interest in NFL rights; Jimmy Pitaro discuss ESPN\u2019s future with The Walt Disney Company; and Jalen Rose will be on Friday\u2019s edition of \u201cInside the NBA\u201d on ESPN. Plus news on John Fanta, MLB Network, Hearst and 97.1 The Ticket.<\/p>\n
Sarandos: Netflix interested in acquiring more NFL\/sports rights if economics make sense<\/p>\n
In an interview<\/a> with CNBC on Tuesday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that Netflix is \u201calways interested\u201d in acquiring additional NFL and sports rights \u201cif the economics make sense.\u201d Sarandos, speaking after Netflix granted<\/a> Warner Bros. Discovery a seven-day waiver to engage with Paramount on a potential sale, discussed the importance of Netflix acquiring something the company can own. As an example, he cited the company\u2019s Christmas Day presentation, which has included a doubleheader and musical performance. Netflix is entering the final season of the three-year deal for these games, reportedly worth $150 million annually.<\/p>\n Sarandos\u2019 comments come as the NFL is expected to explore early discussions surrounding its media rights. The league is able to exercise an opt out for most of its national television contracts following the 2029 season (after the 2030 season for The Walt Disney Company). John Ourand of Puck recently reported<\/a> that the NFL has been meeting with streaming companies to sell a package of four international games and the Week 1 contest in Australia.<\/p>\n During an appearance at Bloomberg \u201cScreentime\u201d event last October, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said<\/a> that acquiring a full NFL game package did not fit with its strategy based on the current understanding. Furthermore, he said that Netflix is \u201cunlikely to bid\u201d for NFL rights in 2029 when they will be available and also said that the company is trying to be disciplined in its investment. Since that time, Netflix has continued to lean into \u2018eventizing\u2019 sports, evidenced through its \u201cSkyscraper Live\u201d special and three-year deal for select Major League Baseball games.<\/p>\n While speaking with CNBC, Sarandos accused Paramount of \u201cflooding the zone with confusion for shareholders\u201d in its quest to enter into a deal to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery and signaled confidence in his company\u2019s winning bid, which he reiterated is the \u201conly signed deal.\u201d Sarandos did not say if Netflix is willing to pay more than its current agreement, which is worth $27.75\/share and keeps Discovery Global as a standalone company.<\/p>\n Pitaro believes ESPN to be \u201ca big part of\u201d Disney strategy\/future<\/p>\n Appearing on CNBC last Friday, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro dismissed concerns<\/a> about Disney potentially spinning off the sports media company, which he described as \u201ca big part of The Walt Disney Company\u2019s strategy and future.\u201d He specifically cited next year\u2019s Super Bowl on ESPN\/ABC (\u201ceveryone in the company is mobilizing around this event\u201d), the bundling of ESPN content on and in Disney+ and Hulu, and the inclusion of ABC in ESPN\u2019s rights negotiations.<\/p>\n Pitaro was responding to questions about whether Disney\u2019s approach to ESPN might change under incoming<\/a> CEO Josh D\u2019Amaro, noting that he had spoken to D\u2019Amaro several times since he was named Bob Iger\u2018s successor and that they are \u201cvery much aligned\u201d on the subject of ESPN. \u201cHe very much understands the power of live sports,\u201d Pitaro said. \u201cWe all understand the power of live sports at Disney. All you have to do is look at our ratings and look at our digital growth and what we\u2019re doing on social, but Josh especially gets it, so we\u2019re very pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n There has long been speculation that Disney could pursue a spinoff of ESPN, as Pitaro himself noted \u2014 saying that he has heard those rumors since he debuted as ESPN president eight years ago.<\/p>\n Pitaro said that ESPN looks to remove friction for sports fans and is interested in creating more options. ESPN has bundle options with other streaming platforms for its direct-to-consumer service, including Fox One and NFL+, and Pitaro said the company would also be willing to listen if the new owner of Warner Bros. Discovery was interested.<\/p>\n Rose appearing on Friday edition of \u201cInside the NBA\u201d on ESPN<\/p>\n Former ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose will fill in for Shaquille O\u2019Neal on Friday\u2019s TNT-produced NBA studio shows on ESPN, it was announced Wednesday, marking his first appearance on ESPN since the network included him as part of its layoffs three years ago. Rose served as a guest analyst on TNT\u2019s NBA shows multiple times last season. O\u2019Neal will be back on the show this Saturday, as well as the Sunday episode airing on ABC.<\/p>\n The Friday episode of \u201cInside the NBA\u201d marks the second time that the program will feature a guest analyst instead of all four regular cast members in Ernie Johnson Charles Barkley, Kenny \u201cThe Jet\u201d Smith and the aforementioned O\u2019Neal. Earlier in the season, Chris Webber was on an episode in place of Barkley.<\/p>\n Rose continues to work for TNT Sports as a college basketball analyst, appearing in studio for coverage of Big East and Big 12 basketball. He was previously part of the cast of \u201cNBA Countdown\u201d from 2012 to 2023 spanning multiple iterations of the show. During his ESPN tenure, he also co-hosted the \u201cJalen & Jacoby\u201d show alongside David Jacoby and \u201cThe Grantland Basketball Hour\u201d opposite Bill Simmons.<\/p>\n Rose was among the longest-tenured ESPN employees affected by the layoffs, which took place as the company aimed to slash costs by $5.5 billion. Some of the other ESPN personalities who lost their jobs<\/a> included Jeff Van Gundy, Keyshawn Johnson, Suzy Kolber and Max Kellerman among others.<\/p>\n Plus: John Fanta, MLB Network, Hearst, 97.1 The Ticket<\/p>\n John Fanta will make his play-by-play debut for the \u201cNBA on NBC\u201d on Tuesday as the Minnesota Timberwolves face the Portland Trail Blazers, Sports Media Watch has confirmed. Fanta, who joined NBC Sports in August as a play-by-play voice and reporter, will work alongside Jamal Crawford and Grant Liffmann on the assignment.
\nMLB Network will condense its annual series featuring behind-the-scenes access and interviews from all 30 MLB spring training camps in Florida and Arizona into eight days, ending before the World Baseball Classic, Sports Media Watch has learned. The network\u2019s \u201c30 Clubs, 30 Camps\u201d series will officially launch Monday, Feb. 23 and air on consecutive editions of \u201cMLB Tonight\u201d at 6 and 7 PM ET. The series, which begins with the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Orioles and Royals and ends with Team USA, features Greg Amsinger, Robert Flores, Siera Santos,\u00a0Lauren Shehadi, Yonder Alonso, Cliff Floyd, Jake Peavy and Chris Young.
\nHearst president\/CEO Steven Swartz wrote in his annual letter<\/a> to colleagues that the company will be \u201con the lookout\u201d for merger and acquisitions opportunities in the coming year, citing in part the fact that Netflix \u201cdoesn\u2019t feel itself big enough without further acquisition.\u201d Hearst owns 50% of A+E Global Media and an 18% minority stake in ESPN.
\nAudacy-owned 97.1 The Ticket has signed a multiyear broadcast partnership extension with the Detroit Lions to continue airing preseason, regular season and postseason games, it was announced on Wednesday. The station has been the radio home of Lions football since 2021 after a previous 11-year stint, and it will also continue airing the in-season \u201cLions Review Show.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ted Sarandos talks about Netflix\u2019s interest in NFL rights; Jimmy Pitaro discuss ESPN\u2019s future with The Walt Disney…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,81196,81197,3195,81198,697,81199,50255,66251],"class_list":{"0":"post-611773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-espn-executives","10":"tag-mlb-network-broadcasters","11":"tag-mlb-on-mlb-network","12":"tag-mlb-on-netflix","13":"tag-nba-on-nbc","14":"tag-nbc-broadcasters","15":"tag-paramount-skydance-merger","16":"tag-warner-bros-discovery-sale"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116097777013235403","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}