Latest news with #Barstool Sports
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fox Sees New Ad Dollars for Sports, News, Streaming in Latest Upfront Close
Fears that Trump tariffs would dampen TV's annual 'upfront' advertising market appear to have been overblown — at least for those media companies with a strong sports portfolio. Fox Corp. won new dollars to its sports schedule, Tubi streaming service and Fox News operations during the current 'upfront' market, according to the company, which has wrapped the majority of its negotiations. During this annual period, U.S. media companies look to secure the bulk of the ad dollars Madison Avenue will commit to their next cycle of programming.' More from Variety Fox Sports Inks Broad Pact With Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy to Become Regular On-Air Contributor NBCU Says Surge in Sports Ads Boosts Upfront Sales Haul Fox News Strikes Deal to Put 'Ruthless' Podcast on Digital Roster 'The Fox portfolio of industry leading Sports, News and Entertainment content delivered double-digit revenue growth in the Upfront for the second year in a row,' said Jeff Collins, president of advertising sales, marketing and brand partnerships for Fox Corp., in a prepared statement. 'Unprecedented audience growth across the Fox portfolio has driven better outcomes for our trusted client partners. We thank them for their continued commitment and remain dedicated to making every second of their investment with us count.' Fox saw the bulk of its growth from consumer-products giants, pharmaceutical marketers and financial-services firms. The volume of dollars put behind sports programming rose by a double-digit percentage, according to people familiar with negotiations, exceeding $2 billion overall, not including the World Cup, which did not take place last year, but for which Fox has U.S. rights in 2026. Advertisers raised the volume of dollars committed to Tubi by 35%, these people said. Programming from the company's Fox News Media secured a volume increase in the double-digit percentage range, according to these people, as advertisers followed the larger audiences viewing Fox News Channel. Fox News saw the number of traditional advertisers on its roster rise, these people said. Like NBCUniversal, which revealed robust upfront results last week, Fox benefitted from a broad sports portfolio that includes one of the medium's most-watched Sunday NFL broadcasts as well as next year's World Cup and post-season Major League Baseball games. Sports has been key to the ad-sales game so far this year. There is no other programming format that continues to dependably generate the large, simultaneous viewing audiences that advertisers and distributors crave. TV networks favor the upfront market because it allows them to build support for their programs well ahead of their debut. Still, the advertising bazaar has been tougher to navigate in recent years as more people gravitate to streaming video and other means of accessing their favorite programs, movies, news and sports events. Ad commitments for the most recent cycle of primetime broadcast TV fell 3.5% in 2024's upfront market, to $9.34 billion, according to Media Dynamics Inc., while commitments for primetime on cable tumbled 4.8%, to $9.065 billion. Meanwhile, ad commitments to streaming video hubs rose a noticeable 35.3%, hiking to $11.1 billion from $8.2 billion in the previous market. The amount committed to streaming video for the most recent TV season was greater than that devoted to primetime broadcast or primetime cable — a first for the industry. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? Final Emmy Predictions: Talk Series and Scripted Variety - New Blood Looks to Tackle Late Night Staples Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Dave Portnoy: WNBA players SHOULD get paid more... it's a sporting scandal that morons are missing
Barstool Sports chief Dave Portnoy has taken aim at 'morons' as he weighed in on the WNBA 's pay scandal in a fiery rant. Caitlin Clark and her fellow WNBA stars took a stand during Saturday night's All-Star game when they called out the league with a pointed jibe over its failure to pay them what they believe they deserve. The league's All-Stars took to the court in T-shirts telling league bosses to 'pay us what you owe us' talks over a new collective bargaining agreement stalled in Indianapolis this week. However, the players faced backlash on social media with fans questioning why players should be paid more when the league has been operating at a loss. Yet Portnoy, who has become heavily invested in the WNBA over the past year as a staunch supporter of Clark, fired back as he defended the players over the scandal. 'I see lots of morons trying to act like WNBA players don't deserve more money,' the media mogul, who inked a deal with Fox Sports this week, began in a fiery rant on X. 'They are throwing around this 'lost 50 million' number that nobody even knows where it comes from. The finances of the league are a mess, tied in with NBA and purposely murkey. The owners don't want to say how the league is doing cause then you gotta pay more going into bargaining agreement. 'The league is exploding. Franchise values are exploding. Ticket sales, merch, tv rights all exploding. The players have an opt out in their CBA. Of course they took it. 'It's all about leverage in re-negotiations and for the 1st time in history of league players have power. The players make virtually nothing while the entire league explodes. Of course they deserve more money. 'Just the values of the team pay for it without all the other stuff. If somebody told me I could buy a Boston team for 250 million I would do it without blinking. That's all you got to know about the WNBA finances.' Negotiations between the WNBA and Women's National Basketball Players Association continued in Indianapolis this week but failed to reach a deal and erase the friction between the two sides. In fact, many WNBA players were disappointed in the lack of progress of an in- person session on Thursday that was attended by 40 players. The negotiations certainly didn't narrow the gap between the two sides. 'I think (Thursday's) meeting was good for the fact that we could be in the same room as the league and the Board of Governors,' said Liberty star Breanna Stewart, a union vice president. 'But, I think, to be frank, it was a wasted opportunity.' The dispute began when the players union announced after the 2024 season that they would opt out of the CBA on October 31, 2025. With television revenues on the rise - largely due to the presence of Clark - the players want a larger piece of the financial pie. The Barstool Sports chief shared a lengthy rant to social media about the issue on Sunday The players' top priorities are greatly increased salaries and a revenue sharing plan. In the WNBA, players reportedly only receive 9.3 per cent of league revenue which is way less than athletes in most other sports leagues. But, as a New York Post article in October pointed out, the WNBA was set to lose $40million last season and NBA owners were starting to get frustrated by it. The NBA owns nearly 60 per cent of the league and owners were pressing commissioner Adam Silver for answers on when they can expect a return on their investment. There's a lot of money coming into the league over the next few years with a new 11-year media rights deal worth over $2.2billion, three new expansion teams that each paid $250m in fees and many new sponsors. According to Sports Illustrated, WNBA salaries roughly range from a minimum of $66,000 to a super maximum contract of around $250,000. For reference, Clark will earn $78,000 in the 2025 season while All-Star rival Napheesa Collier has an average annual salary of $184,000. Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings has the highest average annual salary in the WNBA at $241,000. Players can supplement their income through commercial deals and it's thought Clark, the Indiana Fever sensation, earned $11million in 2024. The deadline to reach a new agreement is just three-and-a-half months away. 'Rev sharing is truly transformational,' Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum told reporters. 'We want a piece of the entire pie. Not a piece of part of the pie. We're a resilient group. We know the unity it takes to be able to get the outcome desired.' Chicago Sky second-year forward Angel Reese termed the negotiations as 'disrespectful.' 'Obviously, women's basketball is skyrocketing,' Reese told reporters. 'And it's important for us to get what we want now, not just now, but for the future as well. ... 'It was an eye-opener for me ... hearing the language of things, not things that I was happy to hear. It was disrespectful -- the proposal that we were sent back.' 'We're on a time crunch. No one wants a lockout,' said Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, another vice president of the WNBPA. 'But at the end of the day, we have to stand firm, and we're not going to be moved on certain topics. So hopefully the league comes back quickly so that we can get have more dialog, more conversations and can get the ball rolling.' Collier and Stewart were co-founders of Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 league that debuted last offseason. The fact that both players are part of the WNBPA negotiating party while having significant financial investments in a rival league would appear to be a conflict of interest, though Collier has fought back against that narrative. That also is part of the discussions as the WNBA wants its league to be prioritized among the players, some of whom play overseas. Players point out that Unrivaled's pay scale was better for most players than what they receive in WNBA salary. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert described the negotiations as 'very constructive dialog.' Engelbert said she remains optimistic that a deal with get done.
