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Afternoon Edition

February 13, 2025

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Paramount channels are set to go dark on YouTube TV weeks before March Madness. What led to the dispute, and what are the viewers’ options?

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

YouTube TV Faces CBS Blackout As March Madness, Masters Loom [[link removed]]

The Knoxville News-Sentinel

The bumpy transition into a streaming-led media industry could leave many viewers without March Madness and the Masters this spring.

Paramount-owned channels, including CBS on broadcast and the CBS Sports Network, are set to go dark Thursday on YouTube TV, the fourth-largest U.S. pay-TV provider with more than eight million subscribers. The sides have been unable to reach a new carriage agreement, and the dispute is escalating just weeks before a key moment in the annual sports calendar for CBS with the two high-profile events upcoming.

“Paramount is an important partner for us and as you can imagine, this is not the outcome we want,” YouTube TV said in a blog post [[link removed]]. “We’re still in active conversations with Paramount and are hopeful we can come to an agreement to keep their content available.”

The blackout is due to go into effect at 11 p.m. ET on Thursday.

The contract battle also arrived just weeks after YouTube TV raised its prices by $10 per month [[link removed]] to $82.99. YouTube said it would give its customers an $8 credit if the Paramount content “is unavailable for an extended period of time,” though there were no immediate specifics on how long it would take to trigger that offer.

In its own specially created web page [[link removed]], Paramount touted the popularity of its programming among YouTube TV subscribers.

“YouTube TV is prioritizing their own interests over a fair agreement,” the company said.

Pivot Points

The carriage dispute arrives at a delicate time for both companies, in addition to the top-tier sports content now at risk. Paramount is attempting to finalize an $8 billion merger with Skydance, a deal in the works since last summer that has gone through numerous twists and turns [[link removed]]—including an aborted rival bid from media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr.

That Paramount merger is now attempting to close in the midst of a new White House administration led by U.S. President Donald Trump that is placing unprecedented levels of pressure on many media outlets.

The Google-owned YouTube TV, meanwhile, is still attempting to position itself as a more nimble and affordable option than traditional cable or satellite TV. That effort, however, is growing more difficult between the escalating costs and other carriage issues. It’s had other fractious negotiations with programmers in recent years, including one in 2021 with ESPN parent Disney that saw that company’s channels briefly pulled from the service.

Red Sox Return to Big Spending With $120M Alex Bregman Deal [[link removed]]

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Are the Red Sox again acting like a big-market MLB club that once defined the ownership era led by John Henry? A $120 million free-agent deal for infielder Alex Bregman suggests that may be the case.

Bregman, previously a two-time champion with the Astros, agreed to a three-year contract with Boston late Wednesday, according to multiple reports, after becoming the most notable free agent left in a chilled player market [[link removed]]. The pact, though it contains opt-outs after each of the first two years and some deferred money, features a $40 million annual salary that ties Bregman for fourth highest among all MLB players [[link removed]].

More broadly, the agreement also heralds a more aggressive thinking by the Red Sox. The club’s luxury tax payroll is now nearly $237 million [[link removed]], the seventh highest in the league, after ranking 12th last year and in 2023. The Red Sox are now poised to play the 2025 season with the highest payroll in franchise history, and ultimately end up over the $241 million luxury tax threshold for this year.

Back to the Past

Such activity is a marked turn for a team that became notably less aggressive in its spending over the past five years and saw stars such as Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts leave either by trade or free agency after failing to come to terms on new contracts.

That dynamic, in turn, has made for one of the most complex team-fan relationships of any MLB franchise. On one hand, the 23-year Henry era has included the end of the famed Red Sox championship curse, three additional titles, the highly regarded restoration of Fenway Park, and more than $120 million in charitable foundation grants—a combined legacy that any team would be proud to boast.

More recently, however, the loss of icons such as Betts, reduced payrolls, and three straight non-playoff seasons have introduced a whole new level of unease among Red Sox fans.

The addition of Bregman, however, could certainly help ease that angst, and even before the deal was formally announced, local media was cheering the development.

“This is a strong move by the Red Sox,” wrote venerable Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy [[link removed]]. “They have finally rewarded their fans. Just like the old days.”

In December, the Red Sox also traded for pitcher Garrett Crochet [[link removed]] in a large-scale deal with the White Sox and added fellow hurlers Walker Buehler and Aroldis Chapman in free agency.

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A Rival Upstart Looks to Challenge Major League Soccer’s Top Dog Status [[link removed]]

Kelvin Kuo-Imagn Images

The 2025 Major League Soccer regular season begins Feb. 22 when Lionel Messi and Inter Miami face New York City FC to kick off a 13-game opening-day slate.

But on Thursday, plans were revealed for a new rival league that aims to reshape the highest level of professional soccer in the U.S.

The United Soccer League announced intentions to launch a Division I men’s professional league in 2027. Currently, MLS is the only league in the country with top-tier sanctioning from U.S. Soccer. The USL operates the Division II USL Championship (24 clubs) and Division III USL League One (14 clubs).

For D-I status, U.S. Soccer requires a league to have at least 12 teams spread out across the Eastern, Central, and Pacific time zones, with 75% of clubs in metropolitan markets that have a population of 1 million, and stadium capacities of at least 15,000.

The USL did not say which cities it intends to launch D-I teams in, but several USL Championship clubs leveling up would make sense, like those in Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Louisville, Raleigh, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Tampa—none of which currently have MLS teams.

The USL’s announcement did not include any mention of MLS, which is expanding to 30 franchises this year with the launch of San Diego FC. MLS has yet to make any official comment on the USL announcement.

Second Act

This aggressive move from the USL follows last year’s launch of the USL Super League [[link removed]], a new women’s competition that was awarded D-I sanctioning [[link removed]] alongside the National Women’s Soccer League. The debut USL Super League season began with eight clubs in August and runs until May. The 2025 NWSL season will run from March through November.

On the men’s side, having a D-I league could allow the USL to implement promotion and relegation, a practice common in global soccer but something MLS has never done. However, sustaining long-term promotion and relegation could be difficult, given U.S. Soccer’s sanctioning requirements.

To succeed, the USL would need a lucrative media-rights deal, strong ownership, and likely local support for stadium funding in its eventual markets.

MLS is entering the third season of its 10-year, $2.5 billion media-rights deal with Apple. The NWSL is entering the second season of four-year, $240 million deals with Amazon, CBS, ESPN, and Scripps Sports. The USL Super League has a streaming deal with Peacock, but its value is unknown.

ONE BIG FIG Jettisoned

Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

$49 million

The dead money the Jets will take on after releasing Aaron Rodgers. New York can designate Rodgers as a post–June 1 cut, which would involve carrying his $23.5 million salary-cap hit until then—before it turns into a $14 million hit afterward. Rodgers’s contract will still count for $35 million against the cap in 2026.

The Jets announced Thursday that they would move on from the 41-year-old quarterback [[link removed]]. “From day one, [Rodgers] embodied all that it meant to be a New York Jet. … That is what I will remember most when I look back at his time here,” Jets owner and chairman Woody Johnson said in a statement.

STATUS REPORT Four Up

Chuck Cook-Imagn Images

Matt Patricia ⬆ Ohio State is hiring the former Lions head coach and longtime Patriots assistant as its new defensive coordinator. Patricia replaces Jim Knowles, who left to take the same job at rival Penn State [[link removed]] for a record $3.1 million annual salary. Patricia spoke to Front Office Sports last week about the stresses of coaching [[link removed]] and what he thought his future might be.

Carmelo Anthony ⬆ The 10-time All-Star signed with NBC [[link removed]] to be a studio analyst for their NBA coverage starting next season, according to The Athletic. Front Office Sports senior writer Michael McCarthy reported in December that Anthony was in play to join NBC [[link removed]]. The network has already signed Mike Tirico as a play-by-play announcer and three-time Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford as a game analyst. Charles Barkley announced last week that he declined NBC’s offer to stick with TNT [[link removed]].

Brandon Ingram ⬆ The one-time All-Star, who was traded from the Pelicans to the Raptors at the trade deadline, agreed to a three-year, $120 million contract extension with Toronto. The 27-year-old was in the final year of a five-year, $158.2 million deal. Ingram signed his extension despite dealing with injuries throughout his career. He has only played over 65 games in a season once in his nine-year career—his rookie campaign.

MLB Network ⬆ The league-owned channel will relocate in 2028 from Secaucus, N.J., its base of operations since its 2009 debut, to a state-of-the-art facility in Elmwood Park, N.J. The forthcoming shift to the newly constructed building “will allow us to modernize our studios, enhance our production, and support our evolving business,” said MLB Network president Bill Morningstar. In addition to having some live game rights, the outlet has long been a fixture of many other parts of the baseball calendar, including annual player awards, Baseball Hall of Fame induction announcements, the hot-stove period, and the draft.

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Conversation Starters A.J. Brown visited 10-year-old Andre Howard III [[link removed]], who was in a coma after protecting his sister from flying debris during a January plane crash in Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts told GQ in 2021 that he saved $70,000 [[link removed]] from his first pro contract for his little sister’s college tuition. Now he’s a Super Bowl champion on a five-year, $255 million deal. Shawn Johnson is the latest guest on the Redefined podcast. Read about [[link removed]] her journey from being an Olympic gold medalist at 16 years old to becoming a mom and launching her own brand. Editors’ Picks Steph Curry, Sabrina Ionescu 3-Point Contest Out After Caitlin Clark Passes [[link removed]]by Colin Salao [[link removed]]Curry eked out a 29–26 win over Ionescu last year. Joe Burrow Wants the Bengals to Spend Like the Eagles [[link removed]]by Jeff Benson [[link removed]]“The Eagles are paying everybody,” Burrow said. “That seems like the way.” Fox Breaks Silence on Kanye Super Bowl Swastika Ad [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]The ads ran in at least four markets, three operated by Fox. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], Colin Salao [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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