Sports News
Most notably, the deal will likely result in CBS (owned by Paramount) and TNT/TBS (owned by Warner Bros. Discovery) being at least partially integrated.
The way has been cleared for Paramount Skydance to purchase Warner Brothers Discovery for a reported $110 billion pending regulatory approval. Mario Tama
February 28, 2026 | 10:56 AM
3 minutes to read
Netflix’s decision Thursday to back out of a bidding war for Warner Brothers Discovery, clearing the way for Paramount Skydance to purchase the storied company for a reported $110 billion pending regulatory approval, has massive media implications, starting with this question:
What happens to journalism when a few billionaires — Paramount is owned by David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison — are cornering the market on national legacy media and appear intent on shaping their companies for their personal interests?
It’s hard to predict an outcome that isn’t downright grim, as the current state of The Jeff Bezos Washington Post and its recently gutted sports department confirms. Somewhere down that list of relevant implications in the WBD/Paramount deal is how it will affect us as sports fans. And that outcome may not be so gloomy.
Most notably, the deal, once approved, will likely result in CBS (owned by Paramount) and TNT/TBS (owned by Warner Brothers Discovery) being at least partially integrated. CBS and WBD already have synergy with NCAA Tournament coverage for men’s basketball. Some sports properties may remain exclusive to TNT/TBS, but it would make sense for CBS to give a larger platform to MLB and NHL broadcasts that are currently under the WBD umbrella. There may also be a greater opportunity to amplify its college football broadcasts.
It’s going to be very interesting to see where Netflix, which is all-in on live sports rights, goes from here now that it is not forking over $82 billion for WBD. The current NFL rights deals run through the 2033 season, but the league has the right to opt out after 2029, and commissioner Roger Goodell said on CNBC in September that negotiations could commence as soon as this year.
The NFL does not hide its intent on selling more games to streaming platforms in order to further raise its rights fees with its broadcast partners. Netflix is heading into the final season of a three-year deal that gives it exclusive rights to stream Christmas Day games.
It would be fascinating if Netflix attempts to gain some revenge on Paramount by trying to take a chunk of CBS’s NFL package in the next broadcast rights deal. As always, stay tuned.
Gold standard
From the Super Bowl on Feb. 8 through the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony on Feb. 22, NBC had a fortnight’s worth of big events unlikely to be matched on sports television any time soon.
I’d give the network an A for how it handled all of it, with the acknowledgment that an A-plus in sports broadcasting is reserved for the truly iconic moments/calls, such as Al Michaels’s “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” exultation when the US men’s hockey team defeated the Soviet Union in 1980.
A main reason for NBC’s success, if hardly the only one, was the easygoing, effortless eloquence of Mike Tirico, first calling the Super Bowl, then immediately shifting into the prime-time hosting role for the Olympics. Tirico has received wide praise for his elegant sign-off after the men’s hockey gold medal game, in which he encouraged young viewers, without sounding trite, to chase their dreams.
But Tirico’s excellence was subtle, too. During the Americans’ 2-1 overtime victory over Canada, announcers Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk occasionally referenced Johnny Gaudreau, the former Boston College and NHL star who was killed along with his brother, Matthew, by a motorist in August 2024.
Hockey fans will never forget the Gaudreaus, and Team USA players made a thoughtful and classy decision to include the Gaudreau families in their Olympic journey. But their story may not have been that familiar to novice hockey watchers tuning in for the gold medal game.
During the game, former Bruins broadcaster Jack Edwards texted me a great point about how Tirico filled in the details on the Gaudreaus’ story between periods and after the game without making Albert and Olczyk look bad. It’s one more reason why I’m convinced Tirico is the best prime-time Olympic host NBC has ever had.
Chad Finn
Chad Finn is a sports columnist for Boston.com. He has been voted Favorite Sports Writer in Boston in the annual Channel Media Market and Research Poll for the past four years. He also writes a weekly sports media column for the Globe and contributes to Globe Magazine.
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