Warner Bros. Discovery eyeing UFC, Formula 1 rights
Warner Bros. Discovery eyeing UFC, Formula 1 rights
The company sees opportunities to expand its sports inventory further, but isn’t necessarily looking to add more MLB rights.
In the wake of its decision to essentially let the NBA walk out the door, Warner Bros. Discovery is plotting out its next steps in sports broadcasting with great care. The company has spoken more than once about the need to be “disciplined” in regard to live sports and has been quite targeted in its attempts to add more games and events to its channels and streaming services. TNT Sports CEO Luis Silberwasser appeared recently on an episode of John Ourand’s “The Varsity” podcast to talk about which events it could pursue in the future, and which sports it probably already has enough of.
Key Details:
- Silberwasser said that both UFC and Formula 1 rights are something WBD could have interest in.
- The CEO also said that more MLB rights likely aren’t something WBD wants.
- The company could look into expanding its NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament rights as well.
Silberwasser was asked about two properties whose rights could be up for sale in the coming months. The first is Formula 1; ESPN holds the rights to F1 races in the United States for 2025, but has already decided not to renew its relationship with the racing league.
Next is UFC, which is reportedly looking for as much as $1 billion per year for its rights in its next deal. UFC is currently in an exclusive negotiating window with ESPN that runs through April, but if the two emerge without a deal, its rights will hit the open market as well.
“We like both,” Sliberwasser said of the potential to go after UFC and F1 rights. “I think they are in conversations with their current partners. Combat sports is an area that we don’t have. AEW, it’s not combat sports. It’s sort of a hybrid between entertainment and sports. … Given our experience with sports internationally, we know the passion for Formula 1. And we know that in [the U.S.] market, it has grown and it has great potential.”
Silberwasser repeated the company line that WBD intends to be “disciplined” when it comes to the pursuit of more sports rights, saying that any deal has to work from a monetary perspective and that any deals must make sense for WBD linear channels as well as its streamer Max.
One area that WBD is currently satisfied with its inventory of games is baseball. WBD owns a package of MLB games, but despite the fact that the league’s relationship with ESPN is apparently ending after 2025, and despite the recent news that MLB wants to streamline international and domestic distribution in 2028, WBD may be all set when it comes to baseball, according to Silberwasser.
“We’ve navigated our distribution deals in a really, really good way. It is hard for us to see that we could acquire MLB rights and get an immediate monetization on those rights right now, given the fact that our distribution deals are locked in a pretty good way,” he said. “…We love baseball and we look forward to continuing to have baseball, love our postseason and we look forward to sort of understanding better what the league is thinking and we’re regarding the new world after 2028.”
The TNT Sports CEO was also asked about an expansion of his company’s rights to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Those rights are currently locked up between TNT and CBS until the 2030s, but if the tournament were to expand the number of teams playing, it would create more game inventory that TNT would have interest in — at least, in principle.
“We have had conversations with both [NCAA executives] Charlie [Baker] and Dan [Gavitt] on tournament expansion,” Silberwasser said. “It is something that is in their court right now — trying to figure out what does expansion really mean in terms of the number of extra teams, number of extra games. When will those games happen? How are they selected? What are the economics behind that expansion? What are the interests of not only the NCAA, but also the conferences. … But in principle, we support expansion.”
WBD clearly hasn’t given up on the addition of live sports, despite its loss of NBA rights. The company wants to be strategic but has designs on some big-name additions if they become available in the coming months and years.
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