Sports TV News

Disney Demands ESPN Budget Cuts

Published

8 years ago

July 13, 2015

Despite holding the television rights to nearly every sport that anyone wants to watch, ESPN apparently is not the cash cow that it once was for parent company Disney, which reportedly is demanding that the all-sports network slash its budget over the next two years.

In Wednesday’s story about Keith Olbermann’s impending departure from the network, the Hollywood Reporter says Disney is forcing ESPN to cut $100 million from its budget next year and a staggering $250 million from its budget in 2017. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that ESPN has lost 3.2 million subscribers in more than a year and that ESPN’s reach in U.S. households has fallen 7.2 percent since 2011. Last month, Bloomberg reported that operating income dropped 2 percent at Disney’s media networks division, which includes ESPN.

Not renewing Olbermann’s contract when it expires at the end of the month is just one sign of the serious cost-cutting at ESPN:

— It didn’t renew Bill Simmons’s contract after he reportedly demanded $6 million per year.

— It reversed course on moving the “Mike & Mike” radio show to the same Times Square studio used for Olbermann’s show after making a very public announcement that the show would be moving from Bristol to the Big Apple. ESPN leases the studio from Disney at a cost of $40 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

— Lou Holtz, Bobby Knight, Mark Schlereth, Bram Weinstein: All allowed to retire or walk away or agreed to have their roles drastically reduced. Weinstein reportedly wanted more money than ESPN wanted to pay him.

And that could merely be a taste of what’s to come, especially with ESPN’s NBA costs ballooning from $485 million per year to to $1.47 billion annually starting in 2016-17. The Big Ten’s TV rights are coming up for renewal soon — it’s the only major U.S. sports entity with a looming negotiation — and considering the current economic climate at ESPN, it wouldn’t be surprising if the conference’s games move someplace else after the 2016-17 season, when the current deal ends. The network currently pays the conference $100 million a year to televise college football and basketball games, and that number is sure to significantly increase.

Viewers also likely can expect to see ESPN’s announcers call even more college basketball games from a studio in Bristol instead of live at the stadium, as they did for 47 games last year (to tepid reviews). Those traveling “SportsCenter” extravaganzas you’re seeing this summer also could get cut back.

And if I were working for a Simmons-less Grantland, 538 or the perpetually stalled Undefeated project, I’d also be a little wary.

In the meantime, we’ll all wait and see what ESPN does with radio host Colin Cowherd with his contract expiring later this year. He’ll want more than he’s making now, obviously. Whether ESPN will pay him remains to be seen.

Credit to the Washington Post who originally published this story

Jason Barrett

Jason Barrett is the owner and operator of Barrett Sports Media. Prior to launching BSM he served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He has also produced national shows for ESPN Radio including GameNight and the Dan Patrick Show. You can find him on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or reach him by email at [email protected].

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Sports TV News

Scripps Sports Exec: Teams Are Making Contingency Deals For After Bally Sports Bankruptcy

Lawlor said that Scripps Sports “already has deals in place with at least a couple of teams as a contingency in case Bally halts broadcasts before the end of the 2024 season.”

Published

4 hours ago

November 30, 2023

Jordan Bondurant

With the writing on the wall that Diamond Sports Group will drop its regional sports contracts after next year, entities like Scripps Sports are bracing for additional opportunities to work with various teams.

Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor recently said teams and leagues are already thinking ahead.

“There’s a lot of contingency planning by teams and leagues to have distribution options if the creditors pull the rug out early,” Lawlor told Cincinnati Business Courier. “It’s really messy right now.”

Lawlor added that Scripps has already been involved in contingency planning with those leagues and teams, with talks having gone on for months in some instances.

“(Scripps) already has deals in place with at least a couple of teams as a contingency in case Bally halts broadcasts before the end of the 2024 season.

Scripps Sports already stepped in to help provide a new TV home for both the Vegas Golden Knights and the Arizona Coyotes. Lawlor said returns with those teams, particularly in Vegas, have been great.

“We’ve been blown away by the Golden Knights over-the-air ratings and the number of people who have subscribed to direct-to-consumer,” he said.

Jordan Bondurant

Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.

Sports TV News

Bob Iger: ESPN Could ‘Go It Alone’ and Not Take Financial Partners

“We are fully prepared to do that. It would be a little more challenging if we did.”

Published

4 hours ago

November 30, 2023

Jordan Bondurant

Courtesy: CNBC

As Disney continues to consider selling an ownership stake in ESPN, Disney CEO Bob Iger told employees he’s not ruling out the possibility of not bringing in new financial partners.

Front Office Sports reported Wednesday that Iger spoke at a Disney town hall on Tuesday and there’s no requirement in place that says Disney must seek out new investors to maintain ESPN’s financial future.

“We could go it alone,” he said. “We are fully prepared to do that. It would be a little more challenging if we did.”

Disney has already had some level of conversations with potential partners including pro sports leagues and big tech companies.

Jordan Bondurant

Sports TV News

NASCAR to Announce $1.1B Rights Deal with FOX, NBC, Prime Video, TNT

The $1.1 billion figure represents a nearly 40% increase in what the organization receives from its current deals.

Published

11 hours ago

November 29, 2023

BSM Staff

A photo of the NASCAR Cup Series, FOX, Prime Video, TNT, and NBC Sports logos

NASCAR is on the verge of announcing a new TV rights deal that will see the racing organization bring in $1.1 billion annually from five TV partners.

The $1.1 billion figure represents a nearly 40% increase in what the organization receives from its current deals.

Beginning in 2025 and running through the 2031 season, NASCAR will air its first 14 Cup Series events with FOX and FS1. The next five events will air on Amazon Prime Video, making the first time a NASCAR event will be shown exclusively on a streaming service.

Following Amazon’s portion of the schedule, another five events will be broadcast on both TNT and the B/R Sports tier of the Max streaming service. The final 14 races of the year will be broadcast with NBC, USA Network, and Peacock, according to reporting from Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern.

Previously, FOX Sports aired 18 races, while NBC aired 20, which includes two exhibition events.

In addition to its new deals with Amazon Prime Video and TNT for the Cup Series, NASCAR also has a previously announced new broadcast agreement with The CW to air each race of the Xfinity Series.

The upcoming announcement, which is expected either Wednesday or Thursday, comes on the heels of NASCAR President Steve Phelps admitting new TV partners would be entering the fray in the next contract.

“We are going to have an additional partner and we may have two additional partners,” Phelps told NBC Sports. “That’s kind of where we’re trying to figure out in these last few weeks — what that’s going to look like, but we already know we’re going to have more partners.”