Latest news with #liveSports
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
TNT Sports And WBD Have Apparently Outgrown Each Other
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 19: A TNT branded microphone during the Premier League match between ... More Manchester City and Newcastle United at Etihad Stadium on August 19, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images) It's been a difficult year or so for TNT Sports, Warner Bros. Discovery's live sports rights arm in the U.S. First, it lost its share of NBA rights to Amazon Prime Video as part of the league's new media deal. Then the award-winning Inside the NBA was moved to ESPN and ABC. And now, WBD's latest corporate shuffle, breaking apart the business into separate buckets for 'streaming and studios' and its 'global networks' legacy TV assets, leaves TNT Sports' future more muddled than ever. Monday's announcement of the WBD split included thoughts that TNT Sports could be licensed out to HBO Max, licensed to another entity entirely or even spun off into another separate company. But in the meantime, TNT Sports is still a major player in televised live sports, and is even adding new premium inventory as it prepares for life without the NBA. Even without the NBA, the group still splits the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament rights with Paramount – games that accounted for 86.9% of total est. national linear TV ad spend across TNT, TBS and truTV over the course of the event, according to data provided by iSpot. TNT Sports also airs NASCAR races, MLB (regular season, playoff) games, NHL (regular season, playoff) games, French Open, All Elite Wrestling, Big East and Big 12 men's/women's basketball games, U.S. men's and women's soccer action, and more. Additionally, the group has also been sublicensing high-profile games from ESPN/ABC. After airing two of last year's expanded College Football Playoff quarterfinal games from ESPN, it will do so again for 2025, and then potentially expand into the semifinal round after that. There's also the possibility that TNT Sports is the mystery 'third partner' in MLB's rights negotiations that also include Amazon and NBCUniversal. Such a move would make TNT baseball's biggest TV partner, and shift the network's primary sports focus to summer – when ESPN's actually relatively light on content once its own MLB deal ends after this season. Whether TNT Sports grabs a larger share of MLB rights or not, though, it will remain a major player in the competitive live sports market. In a TV environment that's increasingly reliant on sports, that makes the property a very valuable commodity. LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 05: (L-R) Center fielder Dexter Fowler of the St. Louis Cardinals joins ... More TNT's Inside the NBA team, NBA analyst Shaquille O'Neal, host Ernie Johnson Jr., wearing an iGrow laser-based hair-growth helmet, and NBA analysts Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley during a live telecast of "NBA on TNT" at CES 2017 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center on January 5, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 8 and features 3,800 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 165,000 attendees. (Photo by) On Monday, WBD CEO David Zaslav downplayed the importance of sports for HBO Max sign-ups in the U.S., and stated that sports will stay on HBO Max for the time being. Part of that could come from the fact that sports are not included in the $9.99-per-month basic with ads plan. Another could be that WBD has never really been clear on its sports streaming strategy. And still another comes from the fact that while TNT Sports has had valuable content among its ranks (especially when it had the NBA), you can find all of it via other streaming or cable/satellite providers. So without much streaming cohesion between the sports content, traditional Discovery shows, Warner Bros. IP and prestige HBO content, it's understandable to doubt how all of this works together – and how sports, in particular, fit into that puzzle without significant changes to how they're positioned within the larger vision. Right now? Yes. Spinning TNT Sports off into another separate entity or selling it to another entertainment company has significant value that could help pay down some of WBD's lingering debts. But who's really in the market for something like TNT Sports? Disney already has ESPN, and has been shedding and consolidating expensive rights. NBCUniversal got out of the cable sports game, but could use more year-round programming. Paramount seemingly has a full plate. Amazon, Apple and Netflix have the money to purchase TNT Sports, but no real need beyond beefing up their sports production chops. And maybe that's enough. Fox is an interesting possibility to acquire TNT Sports, as Awful Announcing also points out. The move actually makes the most sense since it's another boost for Fox in its ongoing battle with ESPN for sports eyeballs, and TNT's sports properties have a lot of synergy with Fox's own existing rights deals (NASCAR, MLB, college basketball). Acquiring the backend of TNT's March Madness rights – the deal runs through 2032 – would be the real prize here, and a coup for Fox. That alone may be worth the effort and the dollars required. There's also the streaming element here. Fox One is launching by the fall, and puts sports at the forefront of its overall offering. Looping TNT Sports into that would make it an even larger contender as one of the must-have streaming apps in the U.S. None of this is to say that anything happens to TNT Sports in the immediate term. But now WBD is splitting up its businesses, time is officially ticking for the sports entity.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
CHSN inks deal with Comcast, ending long saga for Bulls, Blackhawks, White Sox
Eight-plus months after launching, Chicago Sports Network will finally reach a wider Chicago-area audience. Chicago Sports Network (CHSN), a TV channel that is a partnership between the Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox, announced a carriage contract on Friday after a deal was finalized late Thursday night, according to a Comcast spokesperson. CHSN will be available within Comcast's Ultimate TV package, its highest tier, on Channel 200 in the Chicago area. The channel went live on Friday morning. Advertisement 'On behalf of the entire CHSN team, we're proud to welcome Comcast's Xfinity TV customers to a network built exclusively for Chicago sports fans,' CHSN president Jason Coyle said in a statement. 'With more than 300 live Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox games each year, along with original programming that highlights Chicago's pro, college, and high school sports, CHSN delivers the most comprehensive and locally focused coverage available. This deal allows us to reach even more fans across the city and suburbs, deepen connections, and reinforce CHSN as the home for Chicago sports all day, every day.' When CHSN launched in October 2024, Chicago's big three pro teams hoped Comcast could continue to feature them just as it had for NBC Sports Chicago, the network the teams left to launch CHSN in October 2024. The teams hoped CHSN would be able to remain on Comcast's more readily available middle tier, just as NBC Sports Chicago had been. Instead, Comcast didn't carry CHSN at all. CHSN is available to watch for free over the air via antenna in the Chicago area. The network has also been available on DirecTV and Fubo and through a direct-to-consumer streaming app. But without carriage on Comcast, the teams' overall viewership plummeted from previous years. Sports Business Journal reported in February that the Bulls lost 63 percent of their viewership from the previous year. Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz confirmed a report in April that the Blackhawks were down 78 percent, or 40,000 homes, from the previous year. 'At the end of the day, the availability of our games on TV this past season was unacceptable — and our fans deserve better,' Wirtz told The Athletic in April. 'I am focused on finding potential solutions for next season with our partners at CHSN. We are about to celebrate 100 years of hockey as well as usher in the next generation on the ice. I am committed to ensuring our fans can see that.' The most obvious solution was always Comcast, but it was unclear whether there was an actual path to a deal. There had been whispers of a possible agreement in late December, which Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf acknowledged in April, but that fell apart. Wirtz remained hopeful in March, but he was uncertain about the timing. Advertisement 'I wish I could (have a timeline), and I've been hopeful before,' Wirtz said. 'But we hope that we have the right pieces to put something together. Unfortunately, as you know in the media world, we are Chicago, and our teams are not the only piece to the puzzle of national media relationships and markets and things. We are, unfortunately, caught in the timing of all those other things that are less about our specific deal and more about how these deals come online across markets across the U.S.' Comcast carriage, especially on its highest tier, won't return all of the teams' viewership from the past, but it should significantly help. Comcast has been moving a majority of its regional sports networks to its highest tier over the past year. (Photo by Jon Greenberg / The Athletic)
Fast Company
22-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Live sports: The next frontier for streaming
As advertisers continue adding streaming to their budgets, connected TV (CTV) has quickly become the centerpiece of the modern media strategy. With better targeting and more measurable outcomes, CTV is where every marketer wants to be. But within the streaming boom, one category is stealing the spotlight and rewriting the playbook for engagement: live sports and events. These aren't just high-viewership moments—live sports represent cultural flashpoints, capable of drawing massive, real-time audiences and driving deeper engagement than almost any other content category. And the numbers back it up. The global online live sports streaming market is projected to reach $133.98 billion by 2031, growing at a 25% CAGR. Meanwhile, US digital live sports viewership has well surpassed linear TV. For sports advertisers, CTV has become a must-buy to win engaged audiences at scale. Here's a deeper look into what's driving this shift and why CTV is now sports' biggest arena. CTV WINS MORE SPORTS FANS—AND ADDRESSABLE AUDIENCES For years, live sports and events have commanded the attention economy. As James Kreckler, SVP of Streaming & Data Products, Advertising and Partnerships noted at our Direct Access event at the NASDAQ MarketSite: 'If you look at the top 100 shows [in 2023]—all 100 of them were live events. If you look at top social conversations arorund shows, 96 out of 100 were live events.' In short, live content is what captivates audiences. Now, these moments are increasingly migrating to streaming platforms. NBCUniversal hosted the first fully streamed Olympics in 2024. Netflix secured rights to the NFL's Christmas Day game and the FIFA Women's World Cup. Prime Video's exclusive NFL Wild Card broadcast led to the second-largest streaming day on record, with over 47 billion minutes watched. Leading media companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, YouTube, Fox, and NBC vie for the MLB exclusive package. And live sports aren't just popular; they're impactful. They're often experienced communally, in high-attention settings like bars or big screens with friends. A single ad impression has the potential to reach not just one engaged viewer, but a household full, all emotionally invested in the moment. Live sports streamers are also more receptive to ads than traditional TV viewers, driving ROI and performance. The audience has largely shifted, the inventory is scaling, and now, marketers have an opportunity to meet fans where they are: on streaming. HIGH-IMPACT ADS FOR ANY PLAYER What makes this shift even more significant is how live inventory is now bought and sold. Thanks to programmatic enablement—99% of live events at NBCU, per Kreckler—the doors have opened for a wider range of advertisers to participate in premium, high-impact placements. What was once reserved for the biggest brands with the biggest budgets is now available to anyone with a demand-side platform (DSP) and a strategy. Programmatic buying has democratized access to live sports, enabling indie agencies and SMBs to activate in moments previously out of reach. Whether it's a Super Bowl commercial break or a buzzer-beater in March Madness, the barrier to entry has never been lower—and the opportunity never greater. STREAMING'S SUPERPOWER IS CONTEXTUAL Contextual advertising is making a serious comeback, especially in channels where platforms, targeting, and measurement are fragmented and cookies don't apply, like CTV. What makes contextual targeting particularly powerful in live sports is the ability to align your message with the mood, subject, and sentiment of the content on screen. Viewers don't just watch sports, they feel them. That emotional intensity creates a powerful window of connection for brands. By analyzing content, tone, and metadata, contextual platforms group inventory into emotional or thematic categories to ensure ads appear in the most relevant moments. When layered with deterministic targeting and a strong identity framework, advertisers can reach the right person, at the right moment, in the right mindset. Take, for example, a women's athleisure brand looking to align with Caitlin Clark WNBA highlights. With basic app-level targeting—what most CTV platforms currently offer—you're limited to specific sports networks, like ESPN, or the entire sports genre, which includes events like fishing and badminton. But with contextual targeting, that ad can follow her story wherever it actually appears: CBS Sports, a lifestyle feature, or a morning segment celebrating female athletes. Without contextual targeting, marketers are left guessing—targeting broad endemic channels and hoping the right content is airing. But sports content doesn't live in just one place anymore. With contextual IDs like the IRIS_ID, the ad follows the content, regardless of the app or network. That's accuracy at scale: delivering meaningful creative across fragmented but thematically aligned moments throughout the CTV ecosystem. MANAGING THE MOMENTUM OF LIVE SPORTS Live sports aren't predictable, and that's part of their magic. Unlike scripted content, viewership ebbs and flows in real time, driven by the energy of the moment. A commercial during the final minutes of a nail-biting game has very different value than one aired during a lopsided matchup. That volatility introduces both complexity and the need for smarter, more responsive tools. Investing in live sports over time helps smooth out these spikes and valleys, but the real advantage lies in platforms that can respond in real time. AI-powered systems are built for this kind of nuance; they can analyze large volumes of inventory to help advertisers assess value, update media plans, optimize delivery, and align the right creative with the right context. Smarter DSPs with contextual capabilities can 'read the room' by identifying the emotional weight of a given moment and placing ads accordingly. Whether it's a half-time highlight or a game-winning play, showing up at the right time can make all the difference. Live sports aren't just another ad placement. They're real-time cultural events, and now, thanks to advancements in programmatic technology and contextual targeting, advertisers of all sizes can participate.
