{"id":995235,"date":"2026-08-12T02:33:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T02:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/995235\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T02:33:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T02:33:14","slug":"david-berson-conversations-continue-with-nfl-despite-reportedly-stalled-rights-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/995235\/","title":{"rendered":"David Berson: \u2018Conversations continue\u2019 with NFL despite reportedly stalled rights negotiations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much of CBS\u2019 NFL Media Day on Tuesday rightfully centered on the fallout from the network\u2019s decision to bench Tony Romo<\/a> while he addresses his impaired driving arrest from last month. But CBS Sports president David Berson also took a moment to discuss the status of his network\u2019s media rights talks with the NFL, which are reportedly \u201con hold\u201d<\/a> until CBS parent company Paramount resolves litigation regarding its agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/p>\n

Per prior reports, CBS is the only network to have held any sort of formal talks with the NFL about a restructured deal, largely due to the change-of-control provision triggered by Skydance\u2019s purchase of Paramount last summer. The clause allows the NFL to, within a two-year window, take CBS\u2019 package back to market if it chooses to do so, offering the league a level of leverage<\/a> it does not have over any other partner. Initially, the league\u2019s idea was to strike a restructured deal with CBS, one that would pay the league more money<\/a> in exchange for more guaranteed years on CBS\u2019 contract, before moving on to negotiations with its other partners to strike similar deals.<\/p>\n

But a political blitzkrieg in Washington, one reportedly fueled by Fox patriarch Rupert Murdoch<\/a>, knocked the NFL off its tracks, delaying proceedings<\/a> enough to where the league would not reach any new deals before the upcoming season, as was its original intent, and even emboldening Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch to declare his company would not reach any new deal with the NFL<\/a> until much closer to the league\u2019s opt-out option following the 2029-30 season.<\/p>\n

The Murdoch remarks last week led to speculation about whether the NFL would be able to strike new deals with any of its current partners<\/a> before the end of the decade.<\/p>\n

Asked about the status of CBS\u2019 media rights talks with the NFL amid the recent reports, Berson did not rule out a deal before the 2029-30 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in constant conversation; we have so much business with them on so many other levels,\u201d Berson told Awful Announcing at the network\u2019s NFL media gathering. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing to report on this right now, but the relationship is outstanding. We\u2019re talking to them every day. I mentioned the viewership success we\u2019ve had, I mentioned they covet reach so much; CBS is the number one network 17 of the last 18 years \u2026 so they really value what we provide and we also value what they\u2019re providing. So conversations continue, but there\u2019s nothing at this stage to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether Murdoch\u2019s recent comments changed his network\u2019s calculus, Berson said it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to speak to his [Murdoch\u2019s] stuff, but that doesn\u2019t change anything for us where we have an incredible relationship and we have continued conversation with them about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s nothing necessarily \u201cnew\u201d to report, per Berson, the CBS Sports president is clearly leaving the door open for a restructured deal. Perhaps that\u2019s due to the aforementioned change-of-control provision, one that Fox and Murdoch do not have to navigate. Or perhaps it\u2019s simply a means of not ruling anything out. After all, if the NFL proposed terms to CBS that the network felt were favorable, why wouldn\u2019t they guarantee themselves a few more years of NFL rights? The likelihood of such a thing happening is slim, especially considering the NFL is looking for\u00a0billions not\u00a0millions more for the privilege of such certainty.<\/p>\n

But Paramount is tossing billions around like Monopoly money these days. And with the uncertainty surrounding its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the network is in no position to pontificate on its future past the next few weeks. That goes for both the future of its NFL rights deal\u00a0and the future of its top NFL booth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Much of CBS\u2019 NFL Media Day on Tuesday rightfully centered on the fallout from the network\u2019s decision to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":995236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[43],"tags":[398788,1318,1317,1315,1316,36186,36188,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-995235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-david-berson","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-nfl-media-rights","tag-nfl-on-cbs","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117080202593850801","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=995235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/995235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/995236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=995235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=995235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=995235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}