NFL’s Billion-Dollar TV Talks Won’t Wait for Virus End

03/23/20 • 13 min

1 Listener

Scott Soshnick, Eben Novy-Williams and Michael Barr discuss a host of issues related to the business of sports, including the National Football League’s decision to push forward with negotiations aimed at completing new media rights deals amid the coronavirus outbreak. The NFL will soon embark on talks with the incumbents, who pay handsomely for the most popular programming on television. The NFL’s existing contract with ESPN ends after the 2021 season. The Walt Disney Co. unit pays about $1.9 billion annually for “Monday Night Football.” The league’s broadcast deals with the other networks -- CBS, NBC and fox -- wind down after the 2022 campaign. Disney, Comcast and ViacomCBS have lost about $46 billion in market cap since the NBA suspended games because of the pandemic. Also talked about is the increasing likelihood that the Tokyo Olympics will be postponed, and Nascar’s broadcast of its eNascar iRacing Pro Invitational Series race on FS1 over the weekend. The race was held on iRacing’s simulation platform, giving sports fans something to watch during the virus shutdown of games.

Hosts: Scott Soshnick, Eben Novy-Williams and Michael Barr

Producer: Bob Bragg

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Hosts: Scott Soshnick, Eben Novy-Williams and Michael Barr

Producer: Bob Bragg

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Previous Episode

ESPN 8: Marbles, Robot Fights and Cherry Pit Spitting

Syracuse University sports management professor Rick Burton joins Scott Soshnick, Eben Novy-Williams and Michael Barr to discuss a host of issues related to the business of sports, including what sports management means during a prolonged absence of sporting events. Burton, a former commissioner of the Australian Basketball League and an ex-chief commercial officer of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, discusses a wide-range of topics, including whether the Olympics will be canceled and how much influence the athletes, and NBC, which shows the games in the U.S., have over the decison-making process. Burton also talks about the media business with no games being played, including how ESPN is reacting to live games disappearing from its air, and what sorts of creative things teams themselves can do to keep a link to their fans during the shutdown. Burton also talks about esports and sports betting, and how each industry is affected. He also discusses what it’s like to teach a college course on sports management when there’s no one on campus and no games games being played.

Hosts: Scott Soshnick, Eben Novy-Williams and Michael Barr

Producer: Colin Tipton

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Next Episode

Should Billionaire Sports Owner Keep Paying Employees?

Scott Soshnick, Eben Novy-Williams and Michael Barr discuss a host of issues related to the business of sports, including the different ways sports teams and arenas are treating their salaried employees and hourly workers. Some teams are fully compensating them for games not held, while others are having layoffs and cutting pay. Josh Harris, the billionaire co-owner of the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers recently reversed course on a plan to cut the pay of salaried team employees, saying it was the "wrong decision." Also talked about is Steve Ballmer's $400 million agreement to buy the Forum in Los Angeles, a deal that clears a major legal hurdle for a new arena for his Clippers, and the much anticipated decision to postpone the Olympics to some point in 2021.

Hosts: Scott Soshnick, Eben Novy-Williams and Michael Barr

Producer: Tim Herro

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Bloomberg Business of Sports - NFL’s Billion-Dollar TV Talks Won’t Wait for Virus End

Transcript

Speaker 100:00:00.239

This is the Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio with Scott, Michael Barr, and Evan Novie Williams. Hello, I'm Scott, I'm Evan Novie Williams, and I'm Michael Barr. And this is the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. And let's start. Are we having an Olympics, Because it does not look like we're going to have an Olympics in Tokyo now that Australia has withdrawn and also Canada has