August 27, 2024

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There is still no verdict yet from the NFL owners meeting in Minnesota to vote on allowing private equity ownership in franchises. However, some new information has come out: The league has informed investment firms that it intends to take a percentage of potential profits on any future sales of ownership stakes, sources told CNBC [[link removed]]. A final decision should come by the end of the day.

Meanwhile, CBS Sports parent Paramount Global is back on track with its $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, and the deal could shake up the media industry in a big way. We explain.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

CBS Sports Parent Resumes Skydance Merger As Bronfman Drops $6B Bid [[link removed]]

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

CBS Sports parent Paramount Global is now firmly back on track to merge with Skydance Media after media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. withdrew his late-arriving bid to acquire the company.

Just a week after presenting his bid [[link removed]] and then upping it to $6 billion, Bronfman is walking away. Multiple reports suggested he ran into financing issues. But the move gives resurgent life to an $8 billion Paramount-Skydance deal originally agreed to last month [[link removed]]. Skydance’s backers include the billionaire Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners.

“We continue to believe that Paramount Global is an extraordinary company, with an unrivaled collection of marquee brands, assets, and people,” Bronfman said in a statement. “While there may have been differences, we believe that everyone involved in the sale process is united in the belief that Paramount’s best days are ahead.”

A special committee of Paramount’s board further confirmed the end of Bronfman’s bid, and the Skydance deal is now targeted to close in the first half of 2025.

“Having thoroughly explored actionable opportunities for Paramount over nearly eight months, our special committee continues to believe that the transaction we have agreed with Skydance delivers immediate value and the potential for continued participation in value creation in a rapidly evolving industry landscape,” said Charles Phillips, chair of Paramount’s special committee.

Though Paramount continues to face a variety of challenges, like any major media company, optimism remains within the CBS Sports operation, particularly as it relates to NFL game viewership [[link removed]].

More Issues for Bronfman?

Bronfman is also the chair of sports streamer FuboTV, and that company received a new broadside from Venu Sports, the high-profile entity involving Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery. After filing a notice of appeal last week [[link removed]] against an injunction blocking the service’s debut [[link removed]], the trio of media giants have since argued that time is of the essence—particularly as they have claimed to have spent about $74 million toward the development of the platform.

“Each month that passes without a Venu launch has a tangible and dramatic negative financial impact on [the] appellants,” the three companies said in a new court filing. “An expedited appeal raises the possibility that [the] appellants can at least attempt to mitigate their losses with a launch in time to complete for subscribers ‘in advance of or during the college and NFL playoff games.’”

In pushing for that expedited appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, the Venu Sports backers also raised the argument that staff and fans are also suffering from being deprived of the service.

“Put simply, the injunction is causing significant harm to [the] appellants, the planned joint venture, and their employees—all to the detriment of consumers who would otherwise have been able to appreciate this new and different, but non-exclusive, product offering, sooner rather than later,” the companies said.

FuboTV has not objected to an accelerated timetable, but called out Venu Sports’ “numerous misstatements, unsupported factual assertions, and mischaracterizations of the district court’s decision.”

A pretrial conference on the case will be held Sept. 12. If the case does reach a jury trial, Judge Margaret Garnett is targeting February 2025 for that to start—after the entirety of the 2024 college and pro football seasons.

Editors’ note: RedBird IMI, of which RedBird Capital Partners is a joint venture partner, is an investor in Front Office Sports.

Amazon Pulls Out As DSG Backer, but Streaming Partnership Still Possible [[link removed]]

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Amazon is backing out as a financing partner of Diamond Sports Group. But that move is not expected to either imperil the Bally Sports parent’s attempted reorganization from bankruptcy, or the streaming giant’s status as a potential distribution partner for the regional sports network operator.

The decision, initially reported by Sports Business Journal [[link removed]] and confirmed by Front Office Sports, arrives about eight months after Amazon had agreed to provide $115 million in bankruptcy exit financing [[link removed]], in turn receiving 15% of the company. The deal was also set to establish Amazon Prime Video as DSG’s “primary partner” for fans to access the RSNs on a direct-to-consumer basis.

But DSG’s need for the funds has perhaps lessened. In addition to restructuring $450 million in debt, the company also settled a prior legal battle with corporate parent Sinclair, Inc. that involved DSG receiving an additional $495 million. DSG in recent weeks has also made major steps toward being able to emerge from bankruptcy, finalizing a new distribution deal with Comcast, the No. 2 cable carrier in the U.S., and completing revised rights deals with both the NBA and NHL [[link removed]].

After reaching those agreements, DSG conveyed a heightened confidence in being able to reorganize. But after a confirmation hearing set for July was postponed, a new date has not yet been set.

Amazon could remain involved as the DTC partner of DSG. As a result, the post-exit financing is not—and wasn’t ever—a singularly determinative factor in DSG’s bid to recover. Meanwhile, Amazon continues to rack up additional sports rights, most recently landing a national package with the NBA that begins with the 2025–2026 season.

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NASCAR Chooses Mexico for First Modern Race Outside the U.S.

Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports

NASCAR will be taking its flagship product abroad for the first time in its modern history next year.

As top American sports leagues like the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB continue to find success playing regular-season games outside the U.S., NASCAR will join the trend in 2025 by hosting a Cup Series race in Mexico City.

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a 2.7-mile track in the nation’s capital, will welcome NASCAR on the weekend of June 14–15 for an Xfinity Series race that Saturday, followed by the premier Cup Series event Sunday. The Cup Series currently has one full-time Mexican driver, Daniel Suárez (above), who drives for Trackhouse Racing, the team co-owned by rapper Pitbull.

NASCAR has been ramping up its pursuit of international expansion in the past few years, and Mexico had been seen as one of the top options alongside Canada, which is the only other country to host points-paying Cup Series races—in 1952 and 1958. Montreal is the Canadian city that NASCAR has given the most consideration.

All Eyes on the Track

NASCAR’s complete 2025 schedule has not been announced. New media-rights deals totaling $7 billion start next season with incumbents Fox Sports and NBC Sports, as well as newcomers Amazon and TNT Sports.

The Mexico news offers a bit more clarity as to who will air which races [[link removed]]. The international affair will be one of Prime Video’s five exclusive race streams in the middle portion of the season. NASCAR’s debut $1 million in-season tournament [[link removed]] will play out on TNT Sports broadcasts.

Headed Across the Pond?

Should NASCAR find success in Mexico, and eventually Canada, racing on another continent remains a goal for the series.

NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell previously told Front Office Sports [[link removed]] that exhibitions like the preseason Busch Light Clash—which will move out of the Los Angeles Coliseum and to Winston-Salem, N.C., next year—could be candidates to run in Europe.

Meanwhile, at the Daytona 500 in February, there were representatives from seven countries who are interested in hosting a race or at least starting to have a relationship with NASCAR.

NIL WATCH Against the Grain

Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Front Office Sports keeps you updated on the latest NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals shaping college sports. Here’s who is cashing in now:

Athlete: Cooper Flagg Sport: Men’s basketball School: Duke Brand: New Balance

The deal: The projected No. 1 overall pick (above) in the 2025 NBA draft announced a deal with New Balance [[link removed]]. Flagg wore Nike gear throughout high school and spent years in the Swoosh’s EYBL circuit, but he chose New Balance, a New England–based brand with a factory in Maine, Flagg’s home state. The 17-year-old joins a growing list of New Balance basketball athletes—including Kawhi Leonard, Tyrese Maxey, and Cameron Brink—a sign of New Balance’s commitment to challenging Nike’s dominance in the basketball market.

The financials and duration of the deal were undisclosed—though ESPN described it as “significant,” which points to the deal spilling into a future NBA career [[link removed]]. Because Duke is sponsored by Nike, Flagg will still need to wear Nike shoes during his college career.

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Down

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

US Open ⬆ After a record-setting Fan Week, tennis’s final Grand Slam of the year reported another impressive attendance figure for its opening day. The US Open announced 74,641 fans were in attendance Monday, the most for a single day in the history of the tournament. There were 42,886 for the day session—the second most in history for the day session—while the night session had a record 31,775 fans.

Commanders ⬆ The franchise secured an eight-year stadium naming rights deal with Northwest Federal Credit Union, with the former FedEx Field being renamed Northwest Stadium in time for the team’s home opener Sept. 15. The deal does not include any options if the team decides to move to a new stadium, even after owner Josh Harris said Sunday that the team is targeting a new facility by 2030 [[link removed]].

Chiefs ⬇ An ordinance to impose a quarter-cent sales tax to fund renovations to Arrowhead Stadium was rejected by Jackson County officials. However, according to The Kansas City Star [[link removed]], the back-to-back Super Bowl champions were actually not in support of the ordinance.

U.S. soccer ⬆ FIFA, soccer’s governing body, is expanding its office space in Miami, and president Gianni Infantino is moving to the area in preparation for the 2026 World Cup, which North America will host. “There is a great opportunity for FIFA to contribute even more to the growth of the game across the Americas with a permanent presence in Miami,” FIFA told Bloomberg in a statement.

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS EVENTS

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Front Office Sports’ inaugural Tuned In [[link removed]] sports media summit takes place Sept. 10 in New York City. Tuned In is the only place you’ll hear from the industry’s biggest newsmakers and on-air talent.

Why you need to be here:

NBC just showed the most successful Olympics in a decade—and won back the NBA after 20 years With a combined market cap of $4 trillion, giant streamers Amazon Prime Video, Google/YouTube, and Roku are entering sports in a big way ESPN just retained NBA rights for the next decade and is poised to kick off its SEC rights deals

Our panelists have had a hand in leading the most industry-changing deals in sports media. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear directly from them.

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Conversation Starters On Monday, the Atlanta Dream hosted Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in front of a record crowd at State Farm Arena, home of the NBA’s Hawks. Take a look [[link removed]]. Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen became the first player in MLB history to play for two different teams in the same game [[link removed]]. A June game between the Red Sox and Blue Jays was postponed and replayed Tuesday. Jansen was traded to the Red Sox in July. Travis and Jason Kelce sold the rights to their podcast [[link removed]] New Heights to Amazon’s podcast studio Wondery in a three-year deal worth more than $100 million. Editors’ Picks Burke Magnus Explains His ESPN C-Suite Shake-Up [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]Magnus is putting his personal stamp on the network. NFL Keeping First-Down Chains After Preseason Tech Test [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]First-down technology used in preseason won’t make it to Week 1. NFL Ready to Break New Ground With Private Equity Investment Vote [[link removed]]by Eric Fisher [[link removed]]The league is poised to make official a long-awaited embrace of private equity. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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