The NFL’s broadcast deals include the ability to pull the plug if the network undergoes a change in control. CBS has undergone a change in control.
The network’s new owner isn’t concerned about the NFL pulling the plug.
“[T]hey still do have an out, but it’s not something that we’re worried about,” Paramount Skydance Chairman & CEO David Ellison said in an appearance on CNBC.
He added that a conversation with the league regarding the change in control hasn’t happened.
“What I can tell you, though, is that we’re both committed to being partners for the foreseeable future,” Ellison said. “And as we get there as a publicly traded company, you know, we obviously can’t disclose that until we get there.”
Although Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that it “will look at” its options at the proper time, there’s no reason to believe the league would put the CBS package out for bid, especially with the NFL owning a piece of Skydance.
The bigger question becomes whether the current partners will continue to broadcast NFL games, after the league exercises its right to end all deals after the 2029 season.
“We believe we’re going to be in business with the NFL for the foreseeable future,” Ellison said of Paramount and CBS.
It’s hard to imagine the NFL not continuing with ESPN and CBS, given the league’s ownership interest in both entities. Of course, it would have been hard to imagine the NFL having an ownership interest in multiple broadcast partners, and yet here we are.