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Afternoon Edition

March 12, 2025

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The roller-coaster Paramount-Skydance merger has a new twist, in the form of a new bid Skydance calls “unserious.” The impact of any transaction on CBS Sports, however, remains significant.

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

CBS Sports at Stake As Paramount Acquisition Gets Contentious [[link removed]]

Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

There is new drama in the proposed $8 billion Skydance-Paramount merger as Skydance seeks to thwart a rival, late-arriving bid for the CBS Sports parent.

Skydance—which has attempted to acquire the CBS Sports parent since last summer [[link removed]] and said two weeks ago that it intends to close the deal by late June [[link removed]]—told the Federal Communications Commission that a new, $13.8 billion bid for Paramount from a consortium called Project Rise Partners is “a transparent attempt to delay the commission’s approval of” the Skydance deal.

Additionally, Skydance said Project Rise failed to produce a bid for Paramount during a prior, 45-day “go-shop” period specifically created to invite other offers.

“Project Rise is seeking to hijack this commission proceeding to buy time for litigation to proceed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, in an effort to force Paramount’s board to consider Project Rise’s belated—and unserious—bid to acquire the company,” Skydance attorneys wrote in a letter to the FCC. “But its objections here are as untimely as its bid, and it plainly lacks standing to object to the proposed transaction.”

Among the other claims in the Skydance letter were that many of Project Rise’s listed backers were entirely misrepresented.

“Project Rise’s alleged financing sources … are split between entities that are plainly incapable of funding a transaction of this size, on the one hand, and well-known investors who apparently were listed without their permission on the other,” Skydance’s letter continues.

Project Rise said in a statement that “the attack by Skydance is outrageous and an effort to deflect from the real issue here: Project Rise Partners’ offer is superior to Skydance’s and would greatly benefit shareholders.”

Bigger Picture

The ongoing situation injects a significant new wrinkle in the pending Skydance-Paramount deal, which is aimed in part at providing a much more solid foundation for the company in a rapidly changing media industry.

Paramount continues to amass streaming subscribers, and CBS Sports broadcasts, particularly of the NFL and March Madness, are a critical element of its entire operations. The company, however, missed analysts’ projections for both revenue and earnings in its most recent quarter. Like each of its main competitors, Paramount faces large-scale challenges surrounding an accelerating decline of the linear TV business.

CBS News has separately been in the midst of a large-scale legal battle with President Donald Trump—a situation that could complicate the final deal stages considerably. If the pact is completed, though, a larger and stronger Paramount will likely be more of a force in the sports rights market.

Skydance’s backers include the billionaire Ellison family and RedBird Capital Partners.

Editors’ note: RedBird IMI, of which RedBird Capital Partners is a joint venture partner, is the majority owner of Front Office Sports.

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EXCLUSIVE Arena Dreams: Atlanta Looking for New Home As Game vs. Fever Moves

Grace Hollars-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Dream are in search of a larger, long-term home arena and are exploring options, including building their own arena that could seat around 12,000 to 14,000 fans, team president Morgan Shaw Parker told Front Office Sports.

“We’re actively seeking our long-term home,” Shaw Parker said. “We are seeking opportunities to either partner [with an existing stadium] or build our own.” She said the team is looking at options in the city and within the greater Atlanta area.

The Dream were able to sell out all 20 of their home games last year, though 18 were played at the Gateway Center Arena, their current home, which fits around 4,000, the smallest capacity for a home arena in the WNBA.

Shaw Parker said there’s no exact timeline for when the team aims to move out of Gateway Center Arena, but told FOS their contract is “year-to-year.” The team is also exploring options to build a new “state-of-the-art” practice facility, which has become the norm around the WNBA [[link removed]] as players search for organizations willing to invest holistically.

In the meantime, the Dream announced Wednesday that they will move their home opener for the 2025 season against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on May 22 to the State Farm Arena, home of the NBA’s Hawks, which can fit more than 17,000 fans.

The Dream are the fifth team to announce home games moved to larger venues for the 2025 season, after the Las Vegas Aces, Connecticut Sun, Washington Mystics, and Chicago Sky.

Last year, the Dream moved both games against the Fever to State Farm Arena and set a record for WNBA attendance with 17,608 fans in their Aug. 26 matchup [[link removed].].

However, Shaw Parker didn’t close the door on the Dream moving a playoff game to a bigger venue in 2025. She said that aside from State Farm Arena, the team has also explored moving games to arenas at Georgia State and Georgia Tech, as well as the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Ga., about 25 miles northeast of Atlanta.

Despite eking out the No. 8 seed last season, the Dream did not host a playoff game due to the WNBA playoff format [[link removed]] that gave the top-seeded teams home-court advantage in the first two games of a best-of-three series. That rule will change this upcoming season [[link removed]], though the Dream are poised to challenge for a top seed after acquiring 10-time All-Star Brittney Griner in February [[link removed]], the biggest signing in franchise history.

Read the full story about the Atlanta Dream’s future arena plans and schedule changes from Colin Salao here [[link removed]].

Former Coyotes Owner Says NHL ‘Compelled’ Him to Sell Franchise [[link removed]]

Thomas Hawthorne/The Arizona Republic-Imagn Images

The Utah Hockey Club continues to thrive in its new locale, drawing vibrant crowds to the Delta Center in Salt Lake City while competing for a playoff spot and nearing a permanent name for the franchise [[link removed]]. Recriminations, however, remain in the team’s former Arizona home.

IceArizona, the Alex Meruelo–led entity that owned the former Coyotes franchise, has filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County (Ariz.) Superior Court, seeking to recoup a $3.5 million security deposit for use of the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena at Arizona State University. The team was originally set for a third season at the facility, roughly one-third the size of the smallest NHL arena, before the league approved the franchise shift [[link removed]] in April 2024.

The legal action is against the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s public universities, and Oak View Group Facilities, which operates Mullett Arena. The lawsuit, however, also contains a significant broadside against the league as IceArizona says it was “compelled by the NHL to agree to suspend its franchise rights and sell its hockey operations assets.”

That isn’t necessarily a radical departure from comments last year [[link removed]] in which Meruelo said he initially told the league he was “not going to sell the team.”

Describing a compelled sale in a lawsuit, however, is entirely a different matter. Legally, it’s also a critical distinction as IceArizona is claiming a force majeure situation that would free it from any further lease obligations and support the return of the security deposit. The Board of Regents and OVG have previously claimed that with the Coyotes’ departure, the team broke the third season of a three-year lease.

Though Meruelo originally had a five-year window to revive the Coyotes franchise, premised in large part on developing a new venue, he has since abandoned efforts to do so [[link removed]].

The Coyotes’ situation, meanwhile, is not the only current scenario involving a potential forced sale of a pro franchise. The Rays and owner Stu Sternberg, facing their own heightened facility challenges [[link removed]], are also under rising pressure from MLB to sell the club [[link removed]].

THE FOS INTERVIEW Lolo Jones on Olympics, Motivation

FOS illustration

Three-time Olympian Lolo Jones joined Front Office Sports Today host Renee Washington ahead of the Bobsled and Skeleton World Championships to talk about her transition from the world of track and field, the differences between the Summer and Winter Olympics, her motivation to continue competing in her 40s, and how sponsorships and business opportunities differ for athletes in niche sports. You can watch the full interview here [[link removed]] and subscribe for much more.

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Push

Green Bay Press-Gazette

Ravens, Cowboys, Dolphins, 49ers ⬆ All four teams received a league-high four compensatory picks for the 2025 NFL Draft. Baltimore, Dallas, and Miami each received four picks due to free agents who left last offseason. San Francisco received three such picks plus an additional selection for developing DeMeco Ryans, who is now the head coach of the Texans. There were 35 total compensatory picks [[link removed]] awarded, positioned from rounds 3 to 7. The NFL Draft takes place April 24–26 in Green Bay.

WNBA ⬆⬇ The league announced Wednesday that the 2025 draft will be held at The Shed in New York City on April 14. The news comes a day after FOS reported that the league had yet to announce a venue [[link removed]] for the event, which was just more than a month away.

AVP ⬆ The professional beach volleyball league announced new multiyear media-rights deals. From Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, matches will air on CBS Sports Network and The CW, and the championship final will air on the main CBS network.

LIV Golf ⬆⬇ Brooks Koepka said he plans to fulfill his contract obligation [[link removed]] with the tour (which reportedly runs through 2026), but he wouldn’t commit to remaining on the circuit long-term. Koepka was responding to a question about recent comments from 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples, who said Koepka wants to return to the PGA Tour. “I don’t know where I’m going, so I don’t know how everybody else does,” Koepka said Wednesday.

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Conversation Starters Southern California and South Carolina women’s basketball teams will face off in a series dubbed “The Real SC.” [[link removed]] The teams will play Nov. 15 in Los Angeles, then again exactly a year later in South Carolina. Texas head coach Vic Schaefer learned that three student journalists drove 16 hours from Austin to Greenville for the SEC women’s basketball conference championship. He told them to list him as a reference on their résumés. Watch it here [[link removed]]. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said he was offered a position in President Donald Trump’s administration [[link removed]], but it would have required him to stop running his sports media company. Editors’ Picks MLB Pulls ‘ANAELS,’ ‘ASHOS’ Hats After ‘TETAS’ Debacle [[link removed]]by Dennis Young [[link removed]]MLB has now pulled three AL West caps. WVU Coach Bans TikTok Dancing, Raising Questions About Employee Status [[link removed]]by Amanda Christovich [[link removed]]Coach Rich Rodriguez said football players are banned from dancing on TikTok. Fox COO: Company Will ‘Look At’ ESPN MLB Rights [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]ESPN and MLB are parting ways after this season. DISCLAIMER

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