If today was your first day back in the sports media space this year, I hope you started the day with plenty of coffee. Just six days into 2025, there's a unexpected merger of streaming platforms, the debut of WWE's "Raw" on Netflix and Fox Sports dealing with a major lawsuit. Happy New Year!
On a different media note, while I was watching essentially a playoff game between the Vikings and Lions on "Sunday Night Football," my partner kept insisting that we turn on the Golden Globes during commercial breaks. Verdict: "Wicked" was robbed!
Disney-Fubo deal likely means game on for Venu Sports' launch
It's been a long day for Pete Distad.
The CEO of Venu Sports (the skinny bundle backed by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery) officially found out at around 4am ET on Monday that after three weeks of talks, a deal was done that would see Fubo and Disney’s Hulu + Live TV merge.
The public announcement at 9am came as a surprise to most -- myself included.
For Distad and the staff at Venu, it's a huge win. Beyond Disney getting control of 70% of Fubo and operation of a newly combined entity, the agreement settles Fubo’s lawsuit against Venu Sports and lifts an injunction, clearing the way for the Venu Sports to move forward with plans to launch.
“It’s clear Fubo comes down as the big winner here. They got this lifeline out of this Venu lawsuit,” one sports media rights expert told SBJ. “This was a surprise to everyone.”
A separate source said Venu will be announcing a launch date imminently, well ahead of ESPN’s planned debut of its DTC service “Flagship” in the fall. The source added that Venu has been continuing to build the product, which uses tech from Fox Sports.
Before Fubo’s injunction was delivered in August, Venu had not yet formally set up its joint venture between Fox, Disney and WBD. Before the vMVPD launches, the official paperwork needs to get done. But the merger means that Venu will retain all its staff. The company also kept hiring throughout its legal woes, including the addition of Distad.
Disney, Fox and WBD will also pay Fubo a combined $220 million to settle the antitrust suit that Fubo filed back in February.
Fubo, which has 6.2 million subscribers, is set to create a service that will feature all of Disney’s sports and broadcasts networks, and Disney is joining a new carriage agreement with Fubo for the tier. That portion of the deal is expected to close within 12-18 months.
What just happened?
Both journalists and sports media experts were confused about the settlement.
“Why does Disney want to add another streaming platform to its already long and growing list of consumer streaming offerings?” analysts from MoffettNathanson wrote in a note today. “Keeping the Fubo brand alive (along with the public equity), plus the pending ESPN Flagship launch and the now likely upcoming launch of Venu, in addition to Hulu + Live TV, ESPN+ standalone Hulu SVOD and, of course, Disney+ (which now includes Hulu and ESPN content) only further confuses the long-term streaming strategy for Disney investors.
“Perhaps the newco will serve as a vessel for further consolidation of sports and linear assets, including those owned by Disney. Could this entity one day merge with Venu? What if we think even bigger like combining ESPN?”
I previously reported that Disney only sees Venu as a small piece of a much larger sports strategy, with the focus on "Flagship." Time will tell, but there’s speculation Venu hopes to debut in time for the Super Bowl (which is broadcast partner Fox this year).
Prime Video set for first NFL playoff game, hopes for Saturday doubleheader bounce
Amazon is paying around $150 million for its first exclusive NFL postseason game, and the league gave Prime Video a gem with Steelers-Ravens on Saturday night.
The Wild Card round matchup is also the first time Prime Video will be part of an NFL doubleheader, as CBS and Nickelodeon will carry Chargers-Texans in the late afternoon window Saturday. Prime Video has only had one-offs for its slate of Thursday night and Black Friday games.
“We’re going to be able to react to that," said Jared Stacy, director of global live sports production at Prime Video. "We’ll also get everybody set up for an amazing slate of games on Sunday and Wild Card weekend, culminating on Monday. It’s a different way for us to tell stories.”
Prime Video is using its usual crew for the Wild Card game. Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit are returning to the booth for the game, and Kaylee Hartung will be on the sidelines. Charissa Thompson, alongside analysts Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman will break down the storylines before, during and after the game. Taylor Rooks will contribute features, with Albert Breer adding information from around the league.
Prime Video also plans to air a playoff edition of “Prime Vision with Next Gen Stats,” the company’s weekly alt-cast. It adds elements such as AI innovation that surfaces defense alerts and predictions and on-screen graphic overlays.
The hope is that the Wild Card game puts a cherry on top of what has already been Prime Video's best season since becoming the exclusive home of "Thursday Night Football" prior to the 2022 season.
“The league has been a great partner to us," said Stacy. "We've invested so much into the technology that goes into the show, into the streaming platform, into the production, into the talent. Our talent roster really connects with people, really provides a fresh voice out there in the NFL.”
Can Prime Video set an NFL streaming audience record? Last season, Peacock drew 23 million for the first NFL postseason game to be primarily on a streaming platform, drawing what was a then-record 23 million viewers for Chiefs-Dolphins in the Wild Card round (which NBC had paid $110 million to stream). But that record was broken just weeks ago when Netflix drew 24.3 million viewers for Ravens-Texans on Christmas Day (Chiefs-Steelers on Netflix on Christmas also drew 24.1 million).
'Raw' era on Netflix starts with The Rock, Triple H under direction of new producer Brian Fadem
WWE's “Raw” is underway on Netflix. There was a great drone video to start the telecast (both outside and inside Intuit Dome). A WWE historical montage was shown on a temporary screen surrounding the ring to start things off, after which the screen dropped to reveal WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who pumped up the crowd.
Then the new arena's famous Halo Board was put to use to introduce Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (who, of course, dropped a "Squid Game" reference early on once he got into the ring to also pump up the crowd). He also noted it was the largest arena gate in the history of WWE, before giving love to Netflix execs Ted Sarandos, Bela Bajaria and Greg Peters (who were shown in a suite).
“Raw” is expected to be around a three-hour production, and it'll be helmed by Brian Fadem, VP and line producer at the pro wrestling outfit.
Fadem has been on the ground in L.A. since Thursday overseeing preparations at Intuit Dome (my colleague Chris Smith is also at the event). The exec always wanted to work in TV, starting at NESN out of college before joining NHL Network in 2013. “I started as a PA working in the truck, communicating with networks we were on, which is really just USA [Network] at the time,” said Fadem. “Working closely with [executive producer] Kevin Dunn and directors, and that was in 2013 and from there, I just worked on the road for 10 straight years and just understood the product.”
It’s a changing of the guard for WWE, which had seen Dunn oversee production with the company before departing in January 2024 after more than 40 years with WWE. Veteran producer Lee Fitting was then hired from ESPN as head of media and production the same month.
“I was fortunate enough in my prior time while Kevin was here to get some opportunities line-producing the show, just filling in for him when he would maybe be off, or on a vacation or just need a day,” Fadem said. “I was fortunate enough to learn under him and be under him.”
If you're watching in the U.S., expect fewer ads planned than linear TV had seen for the program. International audiences will not have any breaks.
Speed reads
- Bronze Medal-winning U.S. rugby star Ilona Maher -- recently the runner-up in "Dancing With The Stars" -- made her international debut for the Bristol Bears women’s team in front of a record crowd of 9,420 fans in the U.K. on Sunday, doubling the previous record of 4,101 for a home matchup for the team (and Premiership Women’s Rugby overall). The demand had led Bristol to relocate to a larger venue, changing the capacity from 2,000 people to 27,000. From the media side, Reese Witherspoon’s production company Hello Sunshine is following the star’s every move for an upcoming documentary.
- The NFL's decision to flex Vikings-Lions to the "Sunday Night Football" finale (even though it ended with a lopsided score) looks to be a good one. NBC drew 28.5 million viewers for the game, marking the best "SNF" finale since 2012, per fast-national data. It's also the third-best NBC NFL regular-season game since the network returned as a media partner in 2006 (including NFL Kickoff games).
- F1 voice Will Buxton is among the people Fox Sports has targeted to discuss becoming part of its IndyCar broadcast team in 2025, per sources cited by my colleague Adam Stern, as the network looks to make a splash with its new rights to the motorsports property.
- A former Fox Sports hairstylist filed a lawsuit Friday afternoon in Superior Court in L.A. against Fox, Skip Bayless, Joy Taylor and others, alleging years of bullying and abuse.
- ESPN and the Big Sky Conference have a five-year extension to their current media rights agreement, which will begin in the 2025-26 academic year and go through 2029-30. CSMG assisted the Big Sky with its media rights talks, notes my colleague Austin Karp.
- "Get Up" has its best monthly audience on record in December, with the ESPN morning show hosted by Mike Greenberg averaging 461,000 viewers. That also capped the show's best year yet. Two "SportsCenter" windows also saw growth last month, with the 2pm ET weekday edition up 7% and the Saturday morning edition up 4%.
- SiriusXM and VSiN have a deal to bring the sports betting programming network started by Brent Musburger and his family back to SiriusXM airwaves starting Jan. 17, reports Karp.
- Nickelodeon and CBS Sports will bring another SpongeBob SquarePants-themed alt-cast to Saturday’s NFL Wild Card matchup between the Chargers and Texans, notes SBJ's Ethan Joyce.