May 15, 2024

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Netflix has confirmed its expected deal to carry NFL games on Christmas Day, representing another big move by the dominant streamer into live sports. … The Jaguars have unveiled a slightly adjusted plan for their much-anticipated “Stadium of the Future,” but it’s a deal that will tie the team to Jacksonville for the next 30 years. … MLB takes another blistering shot at the bankrupt Diamond Sports Group. … Speculation continues to swirl about a potential sale of the Braves. … Plus: More on Tom Brady, Sportradar, Ted Leonsis, and women’s soccer.

— Michael McCarthy [[link removed]], David Rumsey, [[link removed]] and Eric Fisher [[link removed]]

TUNED IN NFL-Netflix Deal Could Set Stage for Mother of All Cash Grabs

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL’s landmark Netflix deal puts the chess pieces in place for what could be the league’s biggest business gambit of all: opting out early of its current media-rights deals that will pay a combined $110 billion through 2033. That would likely force desperate legacy media partners such as CBS, Fox, NBC, and Disney’s ESPN to pony up even more in rights fees to keep their only must-have programming from being gobbled up by giant streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Google’s YouTube.

Here’s how the mother of all cash grabs could work. The NFL’s current cycle of media-rights deals, signed in 2021 [[link removed]], runs from the ’23 season through the ’33 season. But ProFootballTalk [[link removed]] reported that all of the deals—repeat, all of them—can be terminated by the NFL after seven years. That means the NFL could throw all of its TV/streaming rights up for grabs after the ’30 season.

With the NFL conjuring new rights deals for Netflix’s Christmas Day doubleheader [[link removed]] (Chiefs-Steelers and Ravens-Texans) and Amazon’s Black Friday game out of thin air, would anybody bet against the league exercising those opt-out clauses? Especially when virtually every TV network and streamer spent this week touting their NFL programming to ad buyers during upfront week.

When it comes to media-rights deals, the NFL is “diabolical,” tweeted Andrew Brandt [[link removed]], the former Packers executive turned executive director of the Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law at Villanova University. Brandt laid out how the league horned in on the NBA’s longstanding Christmas dominance and is now bringing in Netflix over current rights partners for at least four valuable Christmas Day games that arguably should have gone to one of them.

“I have no doubt that the NFL will opt out,” Brandt told me Wednesday. “What seemed like home runs for the NFL a couple of years ago now seem like bargains for the networks.”

The opt-opt clauses in its media deals were designed to give the NFL flexibility as it aims for an 18-game regular season and possible game windows, PFT noted back in 2021. But they also give the NFL the contractual freedom to do what it does best: Set up a bidding war for its expensive media packages. With NFL games accounting for 93 of the top 100 most-watched TV shows in ’23, incumbent rights partners will either have to play ball or risk living in the wilderness without live NFL games.

“For the NFL, it is always about having more bidders than packages,” John Kosner, the former ESPN executive turned media consultant, told Front Office Sports in an email. “Should that be the reality in 2029—likely!—I would expect the NFL to opt out of its current media agreements.”

From a strategic standpoint, the NFL’s Netflix deal is a boon for both partners. The league has now assembled a virtual murderers’ row of deep-pocketed media partners that include the four biggest broadcast entities (ABC/ESPN, CBS, Fox, and NBC) and three biggest streamers (Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube). No wonder the league wants to sell off its NFL Media operations: It has seven media partners clamoring to produce its games and studio programming.

Read Michael McCarthy’s complete “Tuned In” column on the NFL’s Netflix deal here [[link removed]].

SPONSORED BY MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY

Promise, Growth Define Rugby’s Journey

A century and a half after the first rugby match was played on U.S. soil, Major League Rugby [[link removed]] is guiding the game into the future. In its seventh season of play, the premier professional league in North America is enjoying consistent growth fueled by competitive play on the pitch, committed partners off it, and passionate fans cheering everywhere in between.

Corporate partners like Globant, RTIC, American Airlines, and more are investing in the growth of the game, while The Rugby Network, MLR’s OTT platform, streams league matches for free, ensuring fans don’t miss a moment of the action.

Get your tickets [[link removed]] and discover why now is rugby time, America.

Jags’ Latest Stadium Plan: $1.4B in Upgrades, Relocate for ’27 Season [[link removed]]

City of Jacksonville

The Jaguars have a new, somewhat less expensive plan to construct their “Stadium of the Future,” nearly one year after announcing a lavish idea [[link removed]] that had the potential to surpass $2 billion in total funding.

On Tuesday, the NFL team and Jacksonville mayor Donna Deegan presented a stadium renovation agreement at a city council meeting. The proposal, which still needs approval from that council, would see the city contribute $775 million toward renovations for EverBank Stadium, while the Jaguars would fund the remaining $625 million of the projected $1.4 billion total, plus any cost overruns.

If approved, Jacksonville would play the 2025 and ’26 seasons at EverBank Stadium with reduced capacity, but it would need to relocate for the ’27 season before the new venue opens in ’28. The team would sign a 30-year lease extension with a specific non-relocation clause to remain in North Florida.

The past 11 months have been fairly contentious, as team and city officials took shots at each other over the stadium plan. Jaguars president Mark Lamping at one point threatened [[link removed]] to move out of Jacksonville if the city didn’t come through with $1 billion of funding, before walking [[link removed]] those comments back. That led to Deegan declaring [[link removed]] she would have final say over any stadium renovations. Along the way, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell even made a visit [[link removed]] to Jacksonville to help advance talks.

London Calling

Under this latest plan, the Jaguars would continue to play one home game per season in the U.K., as they’ve done each year since 2013 (excluding ’20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). This fall, they’ll play two games in London, as they did last season. Ahead of the NFL’s full schedule release Wednesday night, the league has already unveiled its full slate of international games.

Sept. 6: Packers-Eagles (Brazil) Oct. 6: Jets-Vikings (London) Oct. 13: Jaguars-Bears (London) Oct. 20: Patriots-Jaguars (London) Nov. 10: Giants-Panthers (Munich)

The NFL Network and ESPN2 are dedicating prime-time shows to the complete schedule beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

MLB Slams Bally Sports Parent, Calls Blackout of Several Teams ‘Harmful’ [[link removed]]

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

If there was any question about the animosity MLB has for Diamond Sports Group, that has now been emphatically made clear.

As the bankrupt Bally Sports parent continues its efforts to reorganize, the league bashed the company in a new filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, saying an ongoing carriage battle [[link removed]] between DSG and Comcast heightens the chances of a future liquidation.

“It is highly likely that the loss of carriage of the debtors’ broadcasts by Comcast, and the resulting loss of licensing fees from Comcast, will render the [reorganization] plan unconformable, thereby wasting time and estate resources to the detriment of MLB, the signatory clubs, and other interested parties,” MLB said.

The league went on to say that “the debtors should not be permitted to stumble through the restructuring process,” and that “the debtors once again face a very high risk that they will not emerge from these Chapter 11 cases as a going concern.” DSG generates the vast majority of its revenue from distributors such as Comcast.

The Comcast-DSG dispute, which has already grown more tense [[link removed]], remains at a stalemate with no recent movement in talks. MLB called the ongoing blackout of several of its teams carried on Bally Sports regional sports networks “profoundly harmful.”

DSG has not responded to MLB’s scathing statement. The league’s latest shot at the company arrived as DSG is scheduled to go before the court June 18 for confirmation of the reorganization plan, though the league said in its statement that “it is difficult to imagine how confirmation can proceed on the current schedule.”

The testiness continued in a virtual status conference in the case held Wednesday afternoon. MLB continued its rather downcast assessment of DSG’s progress in the case as James Bromley, an attorney for the league, said, “We are coming into another season where [DSG] is an undependable partner. … This is not a deal that MLB and its clubs have signed up for.” The NBA, meanwhile, made its first comments about the viability of the proposed reorganization, saying that it has “more questions than answers,” as well as “concerns” about DSG’s ability to provide a workable plan.

There were some other items of note from the status conference, as DSG said that it is nearing a new naming rights deal to rebrand the networks, an expected situation as the agreement with the Bally’s casino and gaming company is ending [[link removed]] this year. Meanwhile, DSG is pushing to change the deadline for objections to the reorganization plan from May 22 to June 5.

SPONSORED BY MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY

The Rapid Rise of Major League Rugby

Rugby is celebrating a momentous occasion—the 150th anniversary of its first recorded game on U.S. soil.

It’s also experiencing an American renaissance. And Major League Rugby [[link removed]] is leading the charge.

MLR is the premier professional rugby league [[link removed]] in the U.S., growing from seven to 12 teams in four short years. But with freshly inked partnerships with Sportable and Gilbert, a significant commercial deal with Globant, and the launch of its own OTT network, this is only the beginning.

The U.S. is set to host the 2031 and ’33 Rugby World Cups, a glowing testament to World Rugby’s trust in the American market and MLR’s progress in growing the sport.

Read the full article [[link removed]] to learn more.

LOUD AND CLEAR Could Braves Hit the Market?

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

“We’ll see.”

—Liberty Media president and CEO Greg Maffei, when asked whether the Braves could be sold. The Braves were spun out [[link removed]] last summer into their own stand-alone public company. Since then, the club has continued its run as one of the MLB’s top-performing franchises, both on and off the field, reporting last week a 20% rise in first-quarter revenue to $37 million and currently ranking [[link removed]] fifth in the league in attendance. Speaking at the MoffettNathanson Media, Internet & Communications Conference, Maffei said “we’re always trying to be good stewards of shareholder value,” and potential sale rumors have swirled around the Braves to varying degrees since 2022, when the spin-off efforts began. The club carries [[link removed]] an estimated value of $2.8 billion, and the Battery adjacent to Truist Park remains an industry model for sports-related, mixed-use development.

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Down

The Providence Journal

Tom Brady ⬇ The retired NFL quarterback (above) said he regrets some aspects of participating in the Netflix special, The Roast of Tom Brady. “I didn’t like the way it affected my kids,” Brady said of the onslaught of jokes about his divorce while looking back on the roast during an appearance on the Pivot podcast [[link removed]].

Sportradar ⬆ The sports data and analytics company reported record revenue of $289 million for the first quarter, up 28% from the comparable period last year and aided by what the company called “broad-based strength across our product portfolio including strong client adoption of our ATP and NBA product offerings.” The company also raised its full-year projections in revenue and adjusted earnings, and its U.S.-based shares rose more than 8% in early trading Wednesday.

Ted Leonsis ⬆ The Monumental Sports & Entertainment chairman said [[link removed]] he is still pursuing the Nationals, despite the Lerner family who currently owns the MLB club electing earlier this year to hold on to the franchise. The baseball pursuit of Leonsis is predicated in part on expanding MSE’s year-round sports presence beyond existing holdings with the Wizards, Capitals, and Mystics.

Women’s soccer ⬆ FIFA has proposed that a Women’s Club World Cup be played every four years, beginning with a 16-team tournament in 2026.

Conversation Starters HBO is set to debut Hard Knocks Offseason with the New York Giants, promising an “unprecedented look” at the NFL offseason for the first time. The series will premiere [[link removed]] July 2. Nike is teasing [[link removed]] the launch of Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson’s inaugural signature shoe, the A’One, with campaigns in Las Vegas and Columbia, S.C. The shoe is scheduled for release in 2025. Speaking of the Aces, they are looking to set themselves apart from the rest of the WNBA by not only winning a third straight championship, but also with their $40 million state-of-the-art headquarters. Look here [[link removed]]. Future of Sports is headed to Cannes! Join Front Office Sports, Publicis Sports, and NBC Sports, for an afternoon of networking and creative conversations June 19. Learn more [[link removed]] or request to attend. Editors’ Picks Caitlin Clark’s Pro Debut: Inside the Connecticut Casino Pressure Cooker [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Clark struggled on the court as the hype exploded off it. Amazon’s Upfront: What It Reveals About the Company’s Sports Plans [[link removed]]by Eric Fisher [[link removed]]The online retail and streaming giant announces plans for a new set of sports films. NFL Wins Appeal in Jon Gruden Civil Suit, Case Headed to League Arbitration [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]The case is now headed to the league’s own arbitration system. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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