The impending trade sending NBA superstar Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks will potentially create another superteam — just as the league is in the market for a massive new domestic media rights deal.

The Bucks were already a prominent franchise thanks to their 2021 championship and two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. But beyond the benefits for the Bucks, the blockbuster three-team deal with Phoenix and Portland will be further good news for the NBA’s media partners. 

The Bucks will be featured in 19 nationally televised games this season, including an opening-night clash against Philadelphia on Oct. 26, a Christmas Day game against New York, and subsequent matchups against the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State, and Boston.

The increased hype will only help the league in its pursuit of the next cycle of media rights — and its target of $50 billion to $75 billion in aggregate rights. 

“You’re looking at more buzz, more ratings, and every big Bucks game now becoming more of an event,” Lee Berke, president and CEO of consulting company LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media, told FOS. “Having another superteam definitely doesn’t hurt.”

“The NBA’s going to do fine [in the next rights deal]. They’ve got great demos, and are already in a great spot. This deal just solidifies that story a bit further,” he added.

Unsurprisingly, the trade immediately thrust the Bucks into the consensus NBA title favorite among U.S. sportsbooks and created a social media firestorm, with many fans and pundits likening the new pairing to that of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant or Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Giannis Considerations

The trade also promises to heavily impact contract talks between Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. The Greek-born star is eligible to sign a three-year contract extension worth about $173 million but has held off while he assesses the Bucks’ future. 

The Lillard deal follows a separate transaction this past spring in which Bucks co-owner Marc Larry sold his interest in the team to Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and his Haslam Sports Group at a $3.5 billion valuation. 

The NHL has long advocated and pledged its support for a strong, unified women’s pro league. Now, commissioner Gary Bettman and his staff are making good on that promise.

As the Professional Women’s Hockey League — formed this summer from a merger of two prior entities that was led by Los Angeles Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter — prepares to start play in January, the new league is working extensively with the NHL on various operational elements, including scheduling and crossover promotions.

“It’s really to be there in any way we can to help facilitate the progression of the league,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Associated Press. “They’re working on a very ambitious timeline to get a league up and running and do all the things you need to do to make that happen.”

Further signaling the historic growth of women’s sports, the PWHL will begin with six teams, all located in current NHL markets. Those teams will have 23-player active rosters, each earning salaries ranging from $35,000 to $80,000.

The NHL’s support, however, doesn’t extend to financial backing, as both sides concluded it was best for the Walter-owned PWHL to ultimately stand on its own. Still, the arrival of the league signals a new moment for women’s pro hockey in an otherwise choppy history.

“There’s a lot more alignment, I suppose, with the NHL to be able to know that we are in NHL markets,” Jayna Hefford, PWHL senior vice president of hockey operations, told the Associated Press. “The teams that we have been in contact with in those markets have been incredible and really want to help be a part of this and build it.”

Some of the largest sports streamers in the industry have united to create a lobbying unit amid a period of historic media disruption.

A group of 17 entities including Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, NBCUniversal’s Peacock, Paramount+, and Netflix — which collectively hold live streaming rights with the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA, Premier League, PGA Tour, and numerous other properties, along with a big sports documentary presence  — have formed the Streaming Innovation Alliance.

The group aims to form a collective voice when lobbying before government entities for more streaming-friendly regulation.

While not specifically a sports-related endeavor, sports programming stands to be among the most affected from this alliance given its increasingly unique ability to aggregate mass audiences. Most recently, Max unveiled its plan to make sports central to that service.

“Video streaming services do not use public rights of way, airwaves, or spectrum, and are not subject to the kinds of regulation and taxation historically reserved for services to offset their use of those public goods,” the alliance said. “Streaming is something new and different, and should be governed by innovative, tailored approaches.”

The creation of the group closely follows an unprecedented inflection point in U.S. media patterns in July, when American usage of broadcast and linear pay television fell below 50% of all TV consumption for the first time.

The alliance also differs from the normal market dynamics in which these streaming entities compete heavily for live sports rights, subscribers, and market share. 

Notable Absences

The group doesn’t include some major players in sports, including Apple, Amazon, Google’s YouTube, and Roku, which collectively stream major properties such as the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football,” MLB, and MLS, and are also on the hunt for additional live rights.

Leaders of the College Football Playoff met in person on Tuesday and Wednesday but didn’t make any significant progress toward changing the format of the expanded, 12-team postseason to begin next year.

With the Pac-12’s demise, and realignment downsizing the Power 5 to four power conferences, it has been widely expected that the new CFP would shift from six conference champions and six at-large bids to five and seven, respectively.

AAC commissioner Mike Aresco has created some confusion, publicly expressing his support for the 5+7 model on Tuesday before walking those comments back on Wednesday, clarifying that he still supports 6+6 for the 2024 and 2025 season.

The CFP executive committee is currently made up of commissioners from the Power 5 conferences, Group of 5 conferences, and Notre Dame’s athletic director — which makes gaining enough support for some decisions tricky.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said a decision needs to be made this fall. Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff will likely no longer be a member of the CFP committee by next summer, potentially paving the way for easier changes.

Realignment’s Financial Impact

One of the remaining two Pac-12 universities has revealed the potentially dire effects of conference realignment.

In a letter to students, faculty, and alumni, Oregon State University president Jayathi Murthy and athletics director Scott Barnes said that the school’s athletic department is facing as much as a 44% decline in revenue for fiscal year 2025.