- The latest SBJ Sports Media Podcast features a chat with with T’Wolves/Lynx CEO Matt Caldwell on local distribution matters, NBA national media and his new wardrobe after moving from South Florida to the Twin Cities.
- The NCAA will be receiving an additional $50 million each season in media rights as part of men’s and women’s basketball tournament expansion from 68 to 76 teams. That expansion means TNT Sports and CBS Sports, which sell sponsorships for both events, will also see the opening of additional categories to grow their own revenue from the event.
- CBS will head into its UEFA Champions League final at the end of the month on a heater, as the four semifinal matches delivered an average of 1.23 million viewers. That’s the best UCL semis yet for English-language TV. It was punctuated by 1.34 million viewers for the second leg of Paris Saint-Germain’s win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday, which marks the best semifinal game ever.
- TBS/truTV, which carries one non-exclusive MLB game a week, is off to its best start to the season since 2015 (when games were on Sundays), averaging 528,000 viewers. This is also the best yet for TBS since it started airing the games on Tuesdays. Women are also tuning in for TBS MLB games at a higher clip, as the demo is up 89% to date.
- TNT Sports’ second year with Roland Garros will bring back many of the key voices that made the event such a success in 2025, plus a few additions to the commentator lineup, such as former player Genie Bouchard joining as an on-site contributor.
- The fifth season of the NHL’s media-rights pact with ESPN and TNT Sports delivered the most-watched opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs ever, with an average of 1.2 million viewers. Meanwhile, the NBA saw the best audience for the first round of the playoffs in 33 years, as the addition of an extra broadcast TV partner continued to pay dividends for viewership numbers.
- While in Toronto for the Tempo’s first-ever game Friday, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said WNBA fans are facing similar challenges with streaming costs and discoverability as other leagues are, writes SBJ’s Richard Deitsch.
- Victory+ will stream the Dream’s local games for free this season, a follow-up to its recent WNBA deal with the Lynx, SBJ’s Tom Friend notes.
- UFC turned to Joe Hand Promotions to sell its Championship Rounds bundle (featuring 13 annual numbered UFC events, 30 second-tier UFC Fight Nights and all cards from Zuffa Boxing, UFC Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and more) to bars and restaurants across the country, writes SBJ’s Adam Stern.
Media speed reads
