ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro discusses \u201cgive and take\u201d within its sports rights portfolio; Fandango plans to expand in entertainment and sports content; and the NHL schedule includes more Monday matinee games. Plus news on the Atlanta Hawks, Scripps Sports, New York Yankees and David Steele.<\/p>\n
Pitaro discusses \u201cgive and take\u201d regarding sports rights<\/p>\n
In an interview from the CNBC x Boardroom Game Plan Conference Thursday, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said that there would be some \u201cgive and take\u201d regarding the company\u2019s sports rights portfolio as the National Football League reportedly looks to renegotiate its existing media rights contracts. While touting the network\u2019s current rights portfolio as \u201cthe best\u201d in company history \u2014 and potentially \u201cthe best portfolio that the sports industry has ever seen\u201d \u2014 Pitaro also stressed that it was built \u201cwith discipline\u201d using a \u201cvery sophisticated rights acquisition team\u201d running a \u201csophisticated model\u201d to reject any deals that are \u201cbad for business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve walked away from many partnerships \u2014 long-term, decades-long partnerships with leagues and conferences, and oftentimes it\u2019s been painful, but if we don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be productive for our business, we\u2019re not going to do it,\u201d Pitaro said. ESPN just this past week lost rights to the German Bundesliga, a property for which it was paying $30 million\/year.<\/p>\n
As for the NFL, Pitaro declined comment on any specific conversations with the league, but said that ESPN\u2019s relationship with the league \u2014 now a minority owner in the network \u2014 \u201cis in a great place.\u201d Pitaro: \u201cWe spend a ton of time together, speak to them every week,\u201d Pitaro said of the NFL. \u201cWe are super focused on identifying ways to not just grow ESPN but grow the game of football in partnership with them. Right now, my focus is on the upcoming season, honestly. And so we, I think, have the best \u2018Monday Night Football\u2019 schedule we\u2019ve ever had, and that will lead into ESPN\u2019s first Super Bowl in February.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NFL officially acquired a 10% equity stake in ESPN earlier this year as part of a deal Disney sell some of its media assets, including NFL Network and linear distribution rights to \u201cNFL RedZone.\u201d Despite the minority ownership, NFL EVP\/media distribution Hans Schroeder said<\/a> last year that the league would maintain \u201can arm\u2019s length\u201d in future negotiations with Disney.<\/p>\n Fandango expanding with entertainment, sports programming<\/p>\n Versant is moving deeper into the streaming ecosystem as it brings entertainment and sports programming within the Fandango ecosystem. The advertising-supported video-on-demand platform is refreshing its branding and adding new content available for free through the platform. Fandango will also stream a majority of Bundesliga matches included in the new rights deal with USA Sports, the first time one of its new properties will have some content exclusive to a streamer.<\/p>\n Will McIntosh, the president of digital platforms for Versant, told<\/a> Alex Weprin of The Hollywood Reporter that \u201cthe [free streaming] market has been validated by some of the largest players\u201d and mentioned Fox-owned Tubi, Paramount-owned Pluto and Roku Channel among them. That market is actively consolidating, as Tubi and Roku could soon be under the same Fox Corporation umbrella pending a deal expected to close early next year. McIntosh also touted the platform\u2019s theatrical programming as a \u201cunique advantage\u201d over the other free streamers.<\/p>\n Versant has repeatedly stressed its plan is to generate 50% of revenue from non-pay television sources. It is not yet clear how much linear content will be carried on the service. Versant president of entertainment Val Boreland said that while not everything has to be on Fandango immediately, \u201cit does need to be there at some point\u201d and that the company is \u201cnot precious about it living on a third-party platform as well.\u201d USA Sports president Matt Hong has previously discussed<\/a> partnering with third-party streamers in certain instances for its sports programming.<\/p>\n Versant executives have repeatedly stressed that USA Sports programming is exclusive to linear television and that the only streaming options would be will be through cable authentication. USA Network will air at least 30 Bundesliga games within the overall package, and those will not be available on Fandango.<\/p>\n NHL schedule includes additional Monday weekday matinee games<\/p>\n The expanded 84-game NHL regular season schedule will include consistent Monday weekday matinee games, corresponding with primetime television in Europe, it was announced Thursday. The slate begins with a 1 PM ET Panthers-Sabres game on October 12, before a run of five-straight from November 30 (Senators-Predators at 1 PM) through December 28 (Golden Knights-Wild at 2 PM). After the new year, additional windows include Islanders-Panthers on February 1 (1 PM), Lightning-Capitals on March 15 (1 PM) and Flyers-Hurricanes on April 5 (2 PM), plus the usual Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day matinees. DAZN holds most of the league\u2019s rights in Europe, and television outlets such as Sky Deutschland and Viaplay have deals in other countries.<\/p>\n The new season begins Tuesday, September 29, matching the earliest start in league history. (The 2007-08 season also began September 29, but only for the teams who were playing in the league\u2019s international slate. The rest of the league began play in October.) The Opening Night slate expands to five games, consisting of an all-American tripleheader on ESPN and an all-Canadian doubleheader on Rogers Sportsnet. ESPN will have the defending champion Hurricanes against the Panthers at 5 PM ET, Rangers-Bruins in primetime at 8 PM and Blackhawks-Golden Knights in the 10:30 PM nightcap. Sportsnet will have Canadiens-Maple Leafs at 7:00 and Canucks-Oilers at 10:00. (Note that Sportsnet games will no longer be simulcast on CBC this season.)<\/p>\n TNT Sports begins its season the following night with a doubleheader Penguins-Flyers and Avalanche-Kings. The company carries the Stanley Cup Final for the last time in the NHL\u2019s current media rights deal. As is typical, the rest of the nationally televised slate will be announced at a later date, save for contractually-determined slots like the Winter Classic on TNT.<\/p>\n Other highlights on the NHL schedule include all 32 teams playing October 13 and April 10. One of those dates will likely be the annual \u201cFrozen Frenzy\u201d whiparound initiative on ESPN networks.<\/p>\n Plus: Atlanta Hawks, Scripps Sports, New York Yankees, David Steele<\/p>\n\n