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Afternoon Edition

May 9, 2025

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Netflix set streaming records with a pair of Christmas NFL games last year. The league is now closing in on a deal that would bring a game to YouTube and its 2.5 billion monthly users, setting up a clear challenger to that mark.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]

NFL Nears Deal for YouTube Game That Could Break Streaming Records [[link removed]]

Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The NFL’s push to maximize exposure during the 2025 season is bringing in a new, but familiar, partner.

The league is closing in on an agreement to have the Google-owned YouTube, distributors of the residential version of NFL Sunday Ticket, carry the Sept. 5 game in Brazil involving the Chargers [[link removed]] as the home team. The deal, according to sources, will see the opening-week game from São Paulo include the Chiefs, the NFL’s top viewership draw [[link removed]], as the visiting team.

By placing the game for free on YouTube, which boasts more than 2.5 billion monthly active users around the world, the audience is likely to challenge—if not surpass— the league’s streaming record [[link removed]] of an average of 24.3 million viewers in the U.S., set last year in the nightcap of a Christmas Day doubleheader on Netflix. Production details for the Brazil game, however, remain unknown, and like other streamers, YouTube does not have the in-house capabilities to produce an NFL broadcast.

The Brazil contest, shown last year on NBCUniversal’s Peacock, is additionally a centerpiece of the NFL’s expanding international strategy [[link removed]].

While YouTube prepares for its third season of carrying out-of-market games, the move sees the NFL continue to grow its relationship with streamers—in turn helping the league attract younger viewers. Amazon is beginning its fourth season of exclusive Thursday Night Football coverage in 2025, as it draws ever closer to linear-type audiences [[link removed]] and is poised for a further boost this year as measurement methodologies expand [[link removed]].

Netflix is also a critical part of the NFL’s rights holder mix [[link removed]], and the league in turn is a pillar of the company’s rising sports presence.

Schedule Watching

The NFL, meanwhile, is poised for a blockbuster run of publicity next week with the release of the 2025 regular-season schedule, which will feature a number of critical changes from last year. [[link removed]]

The full unveiling of the schedule will happen during the evening of May 14, but be preceded by a series of individual network announcements of key games between May 12 and earlier on the 14th. Those announcements will coincide with those networks’ upfront presentations to advertisers of their programming plans for the coming year, and reinforce the NFL’s status as the top content in U.S. television [[link removed]], regardless of genre.

Within that, the league will release its international schedule on May 13, including the Brazil game.

The placement of the Chiefs in the second game of the 2025 season, while the Eagles will host the kickoff contest as defending Super Bowl champions [[link removed]], inverts the start of the 2024 schedule that had Philadelphia playing in Brazil following a season opener in Kansas City. The move also keeps both of those top-drawing teams squarely in the national limelight.

SPONSORED BY ATLASSIAN

This Is Atlassian Williams Racing

[[link removed]]

Two powerhouse teams are joining forces for one epic goal. Atlassian is thrilled to become the Official Title Partner and Official Technology Partner of Atlassian Williams Racing [[link removed]].

This is a partnership for the ages. As many of you know, Formula One is defined by high-stakes teamwork and innovation—and both Atlassian and Williams Racing were founded on those same principles.

For more than 20 years, Atlassian has been working alongside the highest-performing teams in the world developing and refining a System of Work for modern teams to work more effectively together. And now, in partnership with Williams and as part of a global community of F1 fans, we’re ready to turbo-charge teamwork on the racetrack.

Roku’s $10M MLB Deal Resumes Despite ESPN Drama [[link removed]]

Roku

Roku will begin its second season of airing MLB games on Sunday, extending a unique position as both a streamer of original content and a curator of other networks’ programming.

The company will begin the 2025 season of MLB Sunday Leadoff on May 11 with a Cubs-Mets game. Like last year, the early Sunday afternoon games are designed to be a lead-in to the rest of the day’s action across other MLB rights holders. The broadcasts will be produced by the league and air for free on Roku, as well as on MLB.TV [[link removed]].

The MLB games are a centerpiece of Roku’s strategy, recently detailed during a press event [[link removed]], to help solve the fragmentation problem common across sports media.

“This is a critical way to demonstrate the power of our platform and the sports experience that we’ve built,” Roku Media head of sports Joe Franzetta tells Front Office Sports. “It’s about bringing something to the table that’s complementary to the rest of sports.”

The MLB Sunday Leadoff games, meanwhile, are the subject of some confusion and frustration among some league rights holders. ESPN recently cited Roku’s annual $10 million rights fee, far below ESPN’s own package carrying a $550 million annual cost, as a sign of MLB devaluing its content and part of its justification for walking away from its deal three years early [[link removed]].

The league also monetizes MLB Sunday Leadoff with its own advertising sales, and Roku’s agreement is not a media-rights deal in the traditional sense but rather more of a hybrid arrangement also including a series of marketing components.

Roku City

The streamer, meanwhile, is also working with the league to include MLB logos and player images within Roku City, the company’s highly popular television screensaver and virtual metropolis that reaches more than 40 million U.S. households.

The league will extend its existing, anime-themed “Heroes of the Game” marketing campaign—one that includes stars such as the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, Yankees’ Aaron Judge, Mets’ Juan Soto, and Pirates’ Paul Skenes [[link removed]]—into Roku City. That screensaver already has included a wide range of pop culture easter eggs, and the latest move represents a new level of involvement there by a major sports league.

“This is about putting MLB stars front and center wherever we can, and tapping into Roku’s big reach,” MLB director of global brand management Steven Tyler tells FOS. “We see this as a huge opportunity to position these games as must-watch events.”

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS NETWORK

How Athletes Build Empires

Hosted by Deja Kelly, NILOSOPHY [[link removed]] is an original series by Front Office Sports spotlighting the athletes and leaders reshaping college sports through the lens of NIL (name, image, and likeness).

In Episode 4 [[link removed]], WNBA star Deja Kelly sits down with someone who knows her better than most—her own agent, Cecil White. Together, they break down the real business of being a college athlete turned pro, diving deep into NIL deals, equity partnerships, personal branding, and what it really takes to succeed off the court.

Whether you’re an athlete, creator, or future agent, this is your inside look at how the best deals get made—and how to build a brand that lasts.

Watch Episode 4 now [[link removed]].

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Shams Charania on Draft, Breaking Dončić Deal, ESPN ‘Whirlwind’

Shams Charania said his phone was malfunctioning after he broke the news of the Luka Dončić trade. You can read more about how he reported on that deal, and his transition from The Athletic to ESPN, in Ryan Glasspiegel’s Q&A with the NBA insider [[link removed]].

UNC Denies Report Jordon Hudson Was Barred From Football Facility [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The saga between Bill Belichick, Jordon Hudson, and the University of North Carolina continued to unfurl Friday as reports suggested the legendary coach’s 24-year-old girlfriend was banned from the school’s football facilities.

On Friday morning, journalist Pablo Torre reported on his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out that Hudson had been banned from UNC’s football facility [[link removed]]. He cited two sources at the school saying that officials in the athletic department decided Hudson would not be allowed in the football facility or on the field, quoting one of them as saying, “Don’t think you’ll be hearing much from Jordon moving forward.”

Belichick has been in a public PR crisis [[link removed]], peaking with a tense interview to promote his new book with CBS News Sunday Morning. Hudson was seen shutting down questions about their relationship; CBS reporter Tony Dokoupil called her a “constant presence.”

Belichick released a statement through UNC after the interview claiming he had only agreed to speak about his book [[link removed]]. CBS said the interview took place without any preconditions. The entire saga raised questions about how much influence [[link removed]] Hudson plays in the eight-time Super Bowl–winning coach’s professional life, especially after he stopped working with former PR handler Berj Najarian [[link removed]]. For his part, Belichick said that he and Hudson have “both a personal and professional relationship.”

In response to Torre’s podcast—which also said Hudson had for ced her way onto a seven-figure commercial with Belichick [[link removed]]—the university denied the report that Hudson is banned from facilities, telling reporters there had been “false reports about Jordon Hudson’s role.”

“While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities,” a spokesperson for the athletic department said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “Jordon will continue to manage all activities related to Coach Belichick’s personal brand outside of his responsibilities for Carolina Football and the University.”

But Torre doubled down, standing by his reporting in a statement to FOS.

“The University of North Carolina can choose to describe or change its position on Jordon Hudson’s involvement however it wishes, following the publication of our episode,” he said. “We requested comment and filed dozens of FOIA requests that were not satisfied. And we stand by the specific reporting in our episode, which came from the highest levels of the football program.”

A UNC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question about whether Hudson had ever been banned from the facility previously.

Belichick signed on to lead the UNC program in December [[link removed]] and will earn a salary of $10 million annually. Hudson reportedly was central to the collapse [[link removed]] of an agreement that Belichick and North Carolina had with NFL Films to film Hard Knocks on campus.

Front Office Sports Today Malcolm Jenkins Talks NFL Ownership, Pope's Sports Loyalties

FOS illustration

Two-time Super Bowl champion Malcolm Jenkins joins Front Office Sports Today to break down The Game of Art—his curated contemporary art auction benefiting his foundation. We also dive into his growing investment portfolio, including potential NFL ownership.

Plus, Manny Pacquiao is out of retirement, what’s in the water over in Pittsburgh, correspondent Derryl Barnes goes on assignment, and Pope Leo XIV dominates the convo over at the watercooler.

You can watch the full episode here [[link removed]].

STATUS REPORT One Up, One Down, Two Push

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Paramount ⬆⬇ The CBS Sports parent company said first-quarter revenue fell 6% to $7.2 billion, but it swung operating income from a prior, $417 million loss to a $550 million gain, beating analyst expectations. As was the case a quarter ago [[link removed]], Paramount says it still intends to close its merger deal with Skydance Media by the end of June, but it still faces an uphill climb in securing regulatory approval for the $8 billion deal [[link removed]]. A large chunk of the revenue drop is owed to not broadcasting the Super Bowl after doing so in 2024’s first quarter.

DraftKings ⬆⬇ The sports betting operator reported first-quarter revenue that grew 20% to $1.4 billion, and it lowered its net loss from a prior $142.6 million to $33.9 million. The company, however, slightly lowered its full-year outlook to a revenue range of $6.3 billion to $6.6 billion, due in part to “customer-friendly” outcomes in events such as March Madness. That sentiment mirrors the revenue cut of top rival FanDuel [[link removed]], driven by success of favored teams. Conversely, DraftKings said recent upsets in the NBA playoffs [[link removed]] are aiding the company.

TKO Group Holdings ⬆ The parent company of WWE, UFC, On Location, and Professional Bull Riders said it had a solid first quarter, with revenue rising 4% to $1.27 billion and net income reversing from a prior, $234.5 million loss to a $165.5 million gain. WWE was a particular standout during the period, with its revenue growing 24%. TKO said it is continuing to see the combined benefits of the newly expanded company [[link removed]].

Cricket ⬇ The Indian Premier League has suspended play for a week amid fast-growing military tensions with Pakistan. Similarly, the Pakistan Super League has been postponed indefinitely after scrapping prior plans to move the tournament to the United Arab Emirates.

Editors’ Picks Paige Bueckers Dispels Doubts, Praises Dallas Wings Organization [[link removed]]by Colin Salao [[link removed]]The Wings selected Bueckers with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. Scott Van Pelt Would Welcome ESPN Adding More Golf Coverage [[link removed]]by David Rumsey [[link removed]]Van Pelt said golf has been “massive” for his broadcasting career. DraftKings, FanDuel Interested in Sports Prediction Markets [[link removed]]by Ben Horney [[link removed]]Sports betting giants are eyeing sports “prediction” markets. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], Margaret Fleming [[link removed]] Edited by Or Moyal [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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