After Nexstar Media Group agreed to a multiyear media rights deal with LIV Golf to broadcast several of its matches, other sports entities have become interested in doing the same. At this week’s SVB MoffettNathanson Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook conveyed that ever since the company was willing and able to program sports games on the weekends, various properties have explored partnerships with the network. Among them are various conferences comprising the Power Five, along with motorsports groups.
While an agreement could be struck as early as this fall, Sook said that more enticing options are not available until 2026.
The Pac-12 is at the conclusion of a 12-year contract with ESPN and FOX Sports, but has yet to find a match for a new contract. Washington State University President Kirk Schulz hopes a deal can be struck “in the next few weeks to a month,” perhaps leading to conference expansion. After conversations between the Pac-12 and Nexstar Media Group were reported and subsequently repudiated last month.
The deal The CW has with LIV Golf is a revenue-sharing agreement without a lump sum rights fee paid for the first two years. It has been viewed as somewhat polemical because of the backing the league received from the Saudi Arabian government, which the public associates with terrorism and human rights violations. The moderator of the conversation described the agreement as something that “fell into [their] lap,” a description Sook refuted.
“It didn’t drop in our lap,” Sook said. “We had to go get it and we had to do a lot of selling, but we did get it. They were willing to take a chance with us. We were willing to take a chance with them. I think both parties are pleased.”
Sook claims that CW affiliates did not express pushback to the pact with LIV Golf, stating they were “100% for it.” Yet eight CBS-owned CW affiliates, along with several others owned by Scripps Media and Sinclair Broadcast Group, either declined or did not immediately agree to broadcast the golf tour.
Since March 2023, sales around LIV events have steadily improved with every tournament. Sook says it demonstrates to prospective advertising clients the effectiveness of doing business with Nexstar and The CW.
“We’re very pleased at taking this from signing the contract two weeks before we went on the air [and] not a lot of promotion to steady growth. That’s really what The CW is all about from this point forward – steady growth.”
The golf tour, however, recently announced it will cease releasing viewership information going forward after reportedly lower-than-anticipated ratings. It believes data from Nielsen Media Research, which is measured for network broadcast windows only, is not completely representative of its viewership. Certainly, that will be on the minds of other, more established leagues and promotions as they enter into conversation with Nexstar.
