The CW Eyes TNT Sports Rights and More CFP Games
TNT Sports’s portfolio includes the NHL, MLB, and French Open.
As Warner Bros. Discovery's debt reaches nearly $80 billion, there are whispers it may offload some of its live sports rights to reduce expenses. Amidst this, the CW Network is actively scouting for potential deals. Over the past few years, the CW has expanded its live sports portfolio, securing contracts for conferences like the ACC, Pac-12, and Mountain West in college football, as well as ventures into NASCAR, WWE NXT, and Professional Bull Riders.
Michael Perman, the CW's senior vice president of sports, revealed that the network is keeping an eye on live sports rights currently owned by WBD's TNT Sports, along with other professional leagues and college conferences. The NHL's seven-year, $1.575 billion rights deal with TNT, set to expire after the 2027-28 season, and Major League Baseball's seven-year, $3.75 billion agreement, expiring after the 2028 campaign, are among the rights the CW is monitoring.
TNT's French Open deal, a 10-year, $650 million contract signed in 2024, is another asset the CW is interested in. Beyond Skydance's assets, Perman highlighted Major League Soccer's 10-year, $2.5 billion global streaming deal with Apple, which concludes after the 2028-29 season. He mentioned that leagues such as MLS and the College Football Playoff (CFP) could also be of interest to the CW.
TNT currently sublicenses five CFP games from ESPN, but with the potential expansion of the CFP to 24 teams, the CW sees an opportunity to secure more games. The CW's growing business relationship with ESPN, which includes the recent sublicensing deal for ACC football and men's and women's college basketball, bolsters its position.
With its fifth English-language broadcast network status and a reach of approximately 100 million U.S. homes, the CW is positioned to offer leagues and advertisers the benefits of traditional broadcast distribution. Perman anticipates the CW will announce additional partners in the coming months, as the network is in the final stages of negotiations with various leagues.
Written by urgent.news from Front Office Sports's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
