Could Paramount Gain Additional NFL Content Through Skydance Merger? New Report Indicates ESPN Talks Stalled

The National Football League is shopping some of its media assets and Paramount Global PARA PARAA could be a winner thanks to its pending merger with Skydance Media.

What Happened: The National Football League’s media partners, including Paramount's CBS broadcast network and Paramount+ streaming platform, have benefited from strong viewership in recent years.

The NFL is in talks with Skydance Media and RedBird Capital Partners, who is an investor in Skydance, over the league's media assets, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The talks include the sale of NFL Media and the NFL Network cable channel, and could also include an acquisition of the league's interest in Skydance Sports by Paramount Global, Bloomberg reports. Skydance Sports is a joint venture between the NFL and Skydance.  

The NFL invested $45 million in Skydance Sports in 2022 and has partnered with the media company on "Hard Knocks" and other content. Skydance Sports is also producing an upcoming documentary series on Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

RedBird is also a partner with the NFL on EverPass Media, which helps the league distribute NFL Sunday Ticket to bars and restaurants.

Why It's Important: Paramount's partnership with the NFL includes a change of control provision that could allow the NFL to look for another media partner if the company sees its control change hands, which Paramount investors could closely watch.

Paramount’s discussions with the NFL regarding NFL Media assets and potentially the Skydance Sports rights could show an early sign of cooperation between the league and media company despite the provision.

Paramount currently pays over $2 billion annually to the NFL. While the NFL likely won't shop for a new partner, it could look to get more out of Paramount and Skydance with the latest talks, a potential win-win.

The report said talks between the NFL and ESPN, a unit of The Walt Disney Company DIS, have stalled.

ESPN was previously in talks with the NFL about acquiring the NFL Media assets, including the NFL Network and NFL RedZone. Reports said the league wanted an ownership stake in ESPN, but it is unclear if that led to talks stalling.

NFL viewership has been strong in the 2024 season, with an average of 17.9 million viewers per game through the first four weeks of the season, up 4% year-over-year. The viewership marks the best start to the NFL season since 2015.

With strong viewership for NFL games, Paramount would likely jump at the opportunity to get more content if the price is right.

PARA Price Action: Paramount stock trades at $10.46 versus a 52-week trading range of $9.54 to $17.50. Paramount stock is down 28% year-to-date in 2024.

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