2022 was a busy year in sports media. Some stories that didn’t make the top spot could easily have been Story of the Year in other eras. As we move further into this decade, a few things are clear: streaming isn’t going anywhere, the NFL remains the 800 lb gorilla of sports media, and the networks continue to search for sports content that will separate themselves from the competition.
The way we consume sports will continue to evolve as we move beyond television and use our mobile devices to stay connected. With that, let’s take a look at the Top Ten Sports Media Stories of 2022. These are in reverse order.
10. Paramount Global Keeps the Rights to the UEFA Champions League
There was a time when CBS Sports stayed out of the football business and allowed ESPN, Fox and NBC to handle the beautiful game. However, CBS jumped in headfirst by acquiring the rights to the UEFA Champions League in 2019 and leading to the network acquiring other soccer leagues such as the Scottish Premiership and NWSL. In August, CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, signed a new six-year deal that will keep the European club competition running through the 2029-30 season. The Champions League will remain on CBS until the end of this decade. Under this contract, CBS will air some games on broadcast television while Paramount+ will air most of the games.
Paramount was able to fend off a strong bid from Amazon who was the other finalist for the UEFA Champions League. See the article : The Princeton Arts Council is accepting vendor applications for the annual Goose Outdoor Art Market Dip. Fans will be able to continue watching the event on TV for years to come.
This was one of CBS/Paramount’s big sports property acquisitions in 2022.
9. Sinclair RSN Woes
Sinclair’s Bally Sports regional sports networks are hemorrhaging money. Since Sinclair bought the Fox Sports Nets, it has found that the RSN model is no longer a cash cow. Pay cable doesn’t have the reach it once had. Sinclair is trialling a direct-to-consumer app that will allow viewers to watch their local RSN without cable. And as Sinclair tries to raise revenue, the MLB, NBA and NHL are in no rush to bail the company out of its financial woes. If Sinclair decides to sell its networks, it will find that it will not get as much money as it paid for the RSNs.
8. Warner Bros Discovery Takes Over Turner Sports
After the big merger between Warner Bros Media and Discovery, observers asked which direction the company would take to make offers for live sports. While TBS/TNT has great inventory with MLB, the NCAA Tournament, NBA, NHL, The Match and in 2023, US Soccer Men’s and Women’s Soccer games, you’d think Warner Bros/Discovery would be in shape good for the long term. . However, the company’s CEO David Zaslav fired a warning shot across the bow in November by declaring that WBD does not need to own the NBA for long-term survival. This may interest you : Fred Hickman, who helped launch CNN Sports and the YES Network, has died at 66. While it sounds more like a negotiating ploy, the statement raised some eyebrows. WBD owns Eurosport which has Olympic media rights across Europe and this company could be a player in the US sports media market for a long time to come, however, as WBD is continuing to remove inventory from HBO Max and cut movies in cost-cutting moves, one wonders. if one of the properties mentioned above is demolished.
One move that WBD Sports made this year was to sign Inside the NBA analyst Charles Barkley to a long-term contract. As the NBA enters a new era of negotiations over the next couple of years, it will be interesting to see what WBD does.
7. Bob Iger returns as Disney CEO
In a surprise move in November, Bob Iger re-entered the hallowed halls of the Walt Disney Company replacing his own hand-picked successor Robert Chapek. While the move was certainly shocking, it did not affect the sports division, ESPN, at first. See the article : The Richest Sports Team Owners On Forbes 400 2022. However, when the NBA is ready to reopen media negotiations with Disney and the aforementioned Warner Bros. Discovery, it is likely that Iger will do everything he can to keep those rights and keep ESPN in the NBA business.
Iger installed Jimmy Pitaro as President of ESPN in 2018 and over the past few years, he has been able to maintain two important properties for the network, MLB and NFL. With Iger back in charge of Disney, expect ESPN to continue to be aggressive in bidding for sports properties and the NBA is part of that strategy.
6. LIV Golf
This year, a new golf championship is on the horizon to challenge the PGA Tour. LIV Golf led by Greg Norman burst onto the scene and signed many of the top PGA stars such as Bryson Dechambeau, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Lee Westwood and others. . She also lured popular commentator David Feherty away from NBC.
Promising more prizes, lighter schedules and team play, LIV Golf was hoping that by signing many of the PGA Tour’s stars, the TV networks would start working. The exact opposite happened. With CBS, NBC/Golf Channel and ESPN well established with the PGA, LIV had to stream its events on YouTube where viewership numbers were very low compared to those of the PGA Tour. Norman boasted that LIV had interest from four networks, but at the end of the year, there were reports that he had bought time on FS1, but the loss of his Chief Operating Officer was a big blow.
The Masters has announced that those on LIV Golf will be invited to its tournament in April, but this could be the biggest exposure of the tournament in 2023.
5. Big Ten Signs Huge Media Rights Deal Without ESPN
If this had happened another year, this would have been the biggest sports media story. The Big Ten signed a megabucks media rights deal in August with CBS, Fox, and NBC. ESPN was left on the outside looking in. Starting in 2023, the Big Ten gets coverage of its games similar to the NFL windows with Fox taking early Saturday afternoons, late afternoons with CBS (which needed inventory after losing the SEC -next year), and in primetime with NBC. Through it all, as UCLA and USC enter the conference, this new deal provides all-day exposure for a conference that now spans coast to coast. And the Big Ten achieved this without having to rely on ESPN being a big player in college sports.
It has been reported that NBC will have the host of Football Night in America Maria Taylor lead the Big Ten before the game that will give its primetime window the feeling of a big event. And it’s likely that the Big Ten won’t be done with expansion.
4. Tom Brady Signs With Fox
In what can only be described as a very strange move, Fox Sports has signed current Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady to a reported $375 million contract that will take effect when he retires, whether after this l -season or next season or maybe in 2089. Fox is hoping Brady joins its “A” team, current top analyst Greg Olsen has been doing everything he can to make sure he stays in the booth with play-by-play partner Kevin Burkhardt. He has already playfully told Brady that TV is difficult and there are skeptics who feel that Brady will not even enter the broadcast booth when he decides to stop playing. Some of those skeptics include those of Fox Sports.
Fox is looking forward to having Brady as part of its Super Bowl LVII coverage in February, but down the road, could he be their Tony Romo? Right now, Olsen has a very good chemistry with Burkhardt and they will be calling said Super Bowl. Will Brady upset that apple cart or will he decide that television isn’t for him? We’ll find out when he retires, whenever that happens.
3. Apple Signs Deals with MLB and MLS
Apple jumped into sports in a big way in 2022 by signing a deal with Major League Baseball for a Friday night doubleheader. Announced in March, Apple chose to take a different approach to gaming by hiring former ESPN’er Katie Nolan, Baltimore Orioles announcer Melanie Newman and Yahoo Sports writer Hannah Keyser. The non-traditional production drew its share of critics, but Apple was looking to attract casual viewers rather than die-hard fans to its schedule. We didn’t get any viewership numbers, but Apple considered its first year of baseball streaming a success.
In June, Apple shocked the soccer world with its media rights deal with Major League Soccer. This deal involved global rights and exclusivity to the MLS Season Pass, its pay per view package for the entire season. The deal meant that linear TV would no longer have exclusive access to the games as Apple TV would simulcast them. This leads to ESPN and Univision allowing MLS and Fox to sign an agreement that continues their relationship with the league.
However, these contracts seemed to be just the beginning of a much bigger reward. In April there were reports that Apple had already signed a contract for the NFL Sunday Ticket, but as the season started and progressed, it seemed that there were problems. Eventually Apple pulled out after not seeing the logic of not charging a premium price for Sunday Ticket, but it will still partner with the NFL as it reached an agreement to sponsor the Super Bowl Halftime Show replacing longtime partner Pepsi.
With Apple continuing to commit to its streaming service Apple TV+, it is likely that the technology company is not ready to bring more sports into its building.
Disclaimer: The author is employed by Apple Retail and this entry in no way reflects the opinion of the company.
2. NFL Sunday Ticket goes to Google
So Apple’s loss was Google’s gain. Just before the Christmas holiday, Google further improved its position with the NFL by agreeing to a seven-year deal to have the out-of-market game package on YouTube and YouTube TV. Fans can access the package either through YouTube’s Primetime channels or through YouTube TV. Google, which partnered with the NFL through a YouTube channel, now expands its offer and can bring more customers to Sunday Ticket than its current partner, DirecTV. The NFL has been looking to put Sunday Ticket on a streaming service and now it has its wish granted by bringing in one of the biggest companies in the world to join its existing media partners.
The reported $2 billion-a-year deal could go even higher if Google brings more customers to Sunday Ticket.
1. The Great NFL Announcer Shuffle of 2022
This year has been quite a whirlwind for announcers. Before 2022, being the play-by-play announcer and analyst for the NFL’s “A” team was like being a Supreme Court justice, it was like a lifetime appointment. But as new NFL media rights deals were made in 2021, announcer contracts began to expire and led to a slew of deals and wholesale changes to networks.
First, Al Michaels’ contract with NBC expired after Super Bowl LVI. There was speculation the year before that he was headed to Amazon to call Thursday Night Football as his 16-year tenure with NBC came to an end.
Troy Aikman surprised everyone by moving from Fox to ESPN. Aikman said he was disappointed with Fox’s offer to stay on as its top analyst.
That led to Fox letting Joe Buck out of his contract in exchange for a Big Ten game option and moving to ESPN to join Aikman in calling Monday Night Football, giving the Worldwide Leader much-needed stability in the his cabin and experienced team to call. its Super Bowls in 2027 and 2031.
Fox quickly replaced Buck with Kevin Burkhardt as its lead NFL announcer, but after Fox announced it had signed Tom Brady (see number 4 above), it tapped Greg Olsen to join Burkhardt to call the next Super Bowl LVII, but she would not commit. him to be the permanent “A” team analyst until Brady’s status is resolved.
Michaels’ deal with Amazon to call Thursday Night Football became official in late March, but not before New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft called Fox in an attempt to land Al on board as Buck’s replacement.
Joining Michaels on TNF will be ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit. After Aikman rejected Amazon’s offer to join Michaels on Thursday Night Football, Herbstreit became the top choice and his other employer, ESPN, rewarded him with a contract extension. Herbstreit wants to make the TNF team “the best booth in television.”
When Fox announced Burkhardt and Olsen as its best NFL team, NBC finally made public the worst-kept secret that Mike Tirico will replace Michaels on Sunday Night Football.
The only ones to announce that they didn’t move were Jim Nantz and Tony Romo of CBS. They now have the longest tenure at one network, although Buck and Aikman have been together longer.
And in an unrelated move, Nantz announced he will not call the NCAA Tournament after 2023 making room for Ian Eagle who will step into the top role for CBS/Warner Bros. Discovery Sports in 2024.
Honorable Mentions:
This last year was a very busy year in the sports media and 2023 looks like it will be just as busy.
What are the 3 Traditional sports in the Philippines?
In pushing for the bill, Palatino said, "Traditional games and sports of the Philippines, such as luksong tinik, patintero, sipa and the recently declared National Sport, Arnis have a lot to boast about in terms of creativity, recreation, ingenuity, athletic training and social interaction."
. In pushing for the bill, Palatino said, “Traditional games and sports of the Philippines, such as luksong tinik, patintero, sipa and the recently declared National Sport, Arnis have a lot to boast about in terms of creativity, recreation, ingenuity, athletic and social training. interaction.”
What is the newest sport?
Bossaball is a ball game between two teams, combining elements of volleyball, soccer, and gymnastics with music in a sport. It is played on an inflatable court with a trampoline on each side of the net. Trampolines allow players to jump high enough to bounce the ball over the net.
What is the #1 sport?
What is the famous sport in 2022?
While it may not be evident in the United States, association football also known as soccer is the most popular sport in the world by a large margin. Soccer is king in almost all of Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Central America, and Asia.
Which is the latest popular sport?
The Most Popular Sports in the World
- Soccer/Football. With around 4 billion fans worldwide, soccer is the top dog in terms of popularity. …
- Basketball. …
- Cricket. …
- American football. …
- Baseball. …
- Basketball. …
- Ice Hockey. …
- Alpine snowboarding.
What are the 3 major sports?
MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL are commonly referred to as the "Big Four." Each of these is the richest professional club competition in its sport worldwide, and together with the English Premier League are the top five sports leagues in revenue in the world.
What is the top 5 sports in the world? Top 10 Most Popular Participation Sports In The World
- Soccer/football. …
- Badminton. …
- Field Hockey. …
- Volleyball. …
- Basketball. …
- Tennis. …
- Cricket. …
- Table Tennis.
What cities have 3 of the major sports teams?
The New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, the two largest cities in the country, are the only two regions with at least two teams in each major sports league, with the New York metropolitan area being the home of three NHL teams.
What is the #1 sport in America?
Sports are an important part of the culture in the United States. Historically, the national sport was baseball. However, in more recent decades, American football has been the most popular sport in terms of viewership.
Is singing a sport yes or no?
Singing, like sport, involves physical effort and skill. It is an individual as well as a team effort. And yes: entertainment, competition and audience are involved.
What counts as a sport? Dictionary.com defines sport as “an athletic activity that requires skill or physical ability”. It goes on to specifically mention “racing, baseball, tennis, golf bowling, wrestling, hunting and fishing” as sports.
Is singing in a choir a sport?
The definition of ‘sport’ is ‘an activity involving physical effort or skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.’ Show choir fits that definition because it is one of the most exercise activities physical. around.
What is not a sport?
Non-Sports Games Games such as chess, poker (and other card games), billiards/pool type games (carom billiards, cribbage (pool), cushion caroms, cutthroat etc) may not be considered sports by everyone. A game like marbles has the physical ability to be a sport, but it lacks regular competition.
