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It’s media Upfronts week, which these days serves primarily as a sports programming showcase. Readers of this newsletter shouldn’t be surprised. As YouTube noted, NFL games were 90 of the top 100 most-watched telecasts during the 2024 NFL season. Disney, Amazon and NBCUniversal just spent billions of dollars – each – on an NBA TV rights deal that kicks in next season.
Why have major media companies leaned so far into sports? One of the biggest reasons is ad revenue. That’s what Upfronts week is all about.
I attended almost all of the major media company Upfronts and got a chance to speak with some executives and talent on the side. Here are some of my takeaways.
* Disney/ESPN: I’m going to start with Disney, because that was the company with the most consequential announcement this week – the long-awaited ESPN streaming service that I reported last week will be called … ESPN. This week, we learned the service will cost $29.99 per month, which isn’t a surprise – I’ve reported for months it would either be $25 or $30 a month.
Still, the extent of the bundling discounts with Disney+ and Hulu were massive and unexpected. For customers that sign up at launch this fall (exact date TBD), Disney will throw in both Disney+ and Hulu for free to ESPN subscribers for 12 months. After that, the bundle of ESPN, Disney+ and Hulu (with ads) will cost $35.99 per month – just $6 more than ESPN alone.
Disney is pushing its bundle to cut down on churn – industry lingo for the rate of cancellation for streaming services. The idea is simple – if you make a bundle more cost effective than purchasing a solo service, more consumers will stick with the product. In other words, it’s easier to cancel ESPN than ESPN, Disney+ and Hulu.
ESPN also wants to upsell its 24 million ESPN+ subscribers to the unlimited ESPN, Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said at a media event this week. ESPN+, which costs $11.99 per month for a smaller sampling of ESPN’s live events, will essentially convert to an entry-level tier of ESPN. Part of the reason Disney is offering such a steep discount for the first-year bundle is to convert as many ESPN+ subscribers into ESPN customers as possible.
“A lot of our marketing, our messaging will be focused on upselling those trio bundle subscribers to this new bundle at this very attractive pricing,” Pitaro said.
Disney is fully embracing ESPN these days, a shift from when it contemplated spinning off its sports media arm a few years ago. The first five people that showed up during Disney’s Upfront presentation? Current and former NFL stars Saquon Barkley, Pat Mahomes, Eli Manning and Peyton Manning … and CEO Bob Iger.
Some other tidbits related to ESPN that I picked up during the week …
ESPN still wants UFC rights, but not for the mixed martial arts league’s roughly $1 billion per year asking price. ESPN currently pays about $600 million for UFC, I’m told. That may lead to a situation where UFC splits its rights between multiple media partners.
It’s a similar story for F1, though the dollars are lower. Despite some speculation ESPN was no longer interested in F1, I’m told that’s not true. ESPN is specifically interested in the U.S. streaming rights for F1 given its younger audience and the lack of commercial breaks once a race begins. But I’m told the media company may only want a portion of a package – select races rather than the entire circuit. That could open the door for Amazon or even Netflix as a new partner. Netflix has a relationship with F1 through its documentary series “Drive to Survive,” now amazingly in its seventh season. Still, Netflix’s sports strategy remains “event” driven, and it’s doubtful that an F1 race can be turned into an event, given its limited audience. F1 has been asking for $150 million per year for its rights, sources said.
On the programming side, ESPN is thinking about adding two new dayside shows. One would replace “Around The Horn,” which concludes May 23. The other could sub in for the 2 p.m. SportsCenter. One idea being tossed around is a show that features newly-signed Peter Schrager, the NFL analyst who ESPN believes can be more of an all-sports figure, I was told by one plugged-in source.
I’m told ESPN’s decision to cancel “Around The Horn” was largely cost driven. ESPN had dozens of journalists on its payroll given the revolving guest nature of the show, and it paid a licensing fee to Erik Rydholm, the show’s executive producer. While ESPN has no intention of canceling “Pardon The Interruption,” another Rydholm joint, it would prefer to create new programming in-house.
*NBCUniversal: The biggest news from NBC Sports was the addition of Michael Jordan to the NBA on NBC broadcasts next season. NBC said Jordan would be a “special contributor” to the broadcast, and then did the public the great service of not explaining what that means.
There’s a reason for that – the role is still nebulous. But, fair reader, I’m here to serve. I’m told the initial plan is for Jordan to appear in taped segments during the season to provide analysis that will air during pregame shows or halftime shows. How that evolves over time is still TBD. The deal with Jordan was orchestrated by longtime NBC Sports executive Jon Miller, who has a decades-long relationship with MJ.
*Fox: Fox’s biggest announcement was the launch of its streaming service, Fox One. Remember, the initial plan for Fox was to go into business with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery to create Venu Sports, a digital skinny bundle that would have given Fox a streaming outlet for its programming.
When the companies pulled the plug on Venu as it faced antitrust pushback, Fox pivoted to Plan B – launching its own streaming service consisting of live and on-demand programming from Fox broadcast, Fox News, Fox Business and Fox Sports, with the option to bundle with Fox Nation. The person in charge of the new streaming service? Pete Distad, who was going to be the CEO of Venu.
*Amazon: Amazon’s biggest sports stars are probably Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce, who come to Amazon via Wondery, which owns “New Heights,” the brothers’ popular podcast. Amazon has “Thursday Night Football” and will now add the NBA and WNBA on Thursdays and Fridays.
But while Amazon threw a ton of star power at its Upfront (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael B. Jordan, John Cena, Jamie Lee Curtis, etc.), I thought it was notable that its NBA star power is noticeably light compared to Disney’s licensing of “Inside The NBA” (Shaq, Charles Barkley, etc.) and NBC’s Jordan announcement.
Amazon trotted out Blake Griffin, Udonis Haslem, Maria Taylor and Candace Parker to talk about its NBA and WNBA lineup. While Parker is an all-time great in the WNBA, that collective is not exactly The Avengers. And Parker isn’t even exclusively on Amazon – she showed up at the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront too because she’s also broadcasting “Unrivaled,” the women’s basketball three-on-three league that airs on Turner’s cable networks.
As if to underscore the point, NFL analyst (and former quarterback) Ryan Fitzpatrick beat Griffin handily in an on-stage pop-a-shot contest, causing Jamie Lee Curtis to wonder out loud why the professional basketball player didn’t know how to shoot.
I do think Amazon may have a bit of an NBA problem given its lack of on-air talent and weekday slate games. NBC made a huge deal of the return of the NBA during its Upfront, including flying in John Tesh to lead a large orchestra in “Roundball Rock.” Jimmy Fallon even joked that the NBC Upfronts seemed like the NBA Upfronts. Earlier this month, NBC Sports president Rick Cordella told me NBC plans to incorporate stadium introduction music into its broadcasts – a throwback to the 1990s Chicago Bulls days. The idea is to make “Sunday Night Basketball” feel like the game of the week, he told me.
I fear Amazon’s games may feel third-rate compared to ESPN and NBC. Amazon did pay less for its package of games than both companies, but ideally, Prime Video would find a way to make the games feel younger and fresher, given it’s the first time an exclusive streamer has ever had NBA rights. And, to be fair, “Thursday Night Football” has improved in quality every year.
*Warner Bros. Discovery: When everyone else zigs, you zag. WBD lost its NBA rights for next season, so the company conspicuously downplayed sports relative to entertainment programming. While NBCU, Amazon and Disney all emphasized sports early in their presentations, it took WBD an hour before TNT Sports Chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser took the stage.
This wasn’t an accident. WBD is changing the name of its streaming service from Max back to HBO Max. The point is to re-emphasize prestige programming and HBO rather than a B-minus sports lineup.
*Netflix: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell donned a Santa Claus suit to announce the platform’s two new Christmas games — the Dallas Cowboys vs. the Washington Commanders and the Minnesota Vikings vs. the Detroit Lions.
Then, the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders performed a routine to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” to tout a new Netflix series featuring Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, “America’s Team: The Gambler and his Cowboys,” which hits the service this summer.
Netflix is still new to sports, so the service leaned on the strength of “Squid Game 3,” “Stranger Things” season five, and “Nobody Wants This.” Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria said Netflix’s event “is all about our shows and movies.”
Netflix noted that eight of the top 20 Nielsen rated TV shows were on its platform. The company’s sports strategy is showcasing big live events. So while Netflix announced the Christmas games and promoted an Amanda Serrano–Katie Taylor women’s boxing rematch, it’s still figuring out how much of a player it wants to be as a media partner.
Still, there’s a reason the NFL commissioner showed up at this Upfront. Netflix has a market valuation of nearly $500 billion. To use a Christmas analogy, Goodell wants to make sure Netflix isn’t just the ghost of Christmas present, but also the ghost of Christmas future.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told me he frequently talks about adding more NFL games with Goodell, but the question always comes back to whether Netflix feels it can “eventize” the game beyond a random regular season occasion.
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