A report surfaced earlier this week that Warner Bros. Discovery — with either TBS or TNT — is interested in purchasing a portion of the rights to the newly expanded College Football Playoff.
It is an interesting report for several reasons, and it’s always fun to speculate on the motives behind both the interest of purchasing the package and the story getting out to the public.
Let’s focus on the latter for just a moment.
The news that Warner Bros. Discovery is interested in the College Football Playoff can be viewed a number of different ways (and we’ll get into them!), but I think it’s a message to the NBA. And that message is: “We’re serious about not overpaying you, and we’ll find somewhere else to spend that money if you’re going to be greedy.”
It’s a clear signal that the network isn’t joking about not making a bad deal.
The NBA hasn’t been shy about its desire to exponentially increase its television rights deals. And WBD hasn’t been shy about negotiating in public, with CEO David Zaslav going as far as to say “We don’t have to have the NBA”, and “I’m hopeful we get a deal done with the NBA”.
Warner Bros. Discovery has been selective in its rights deals. The company has amassed a somewhat sneaky good collection, with March Madness, the MLB/MLB Postseason, the NHL/NHL Playoffs, as well as U.S. soccer, among others.
But the College Football Playoff would largely be unchartered territory for the company.
And that has me asking a few questions.
The first?
Is interest in the College Football Playoff a trial balloon before really diving into college football?
I think it’s a fair question to ask and one that has a bit of history. FOX Sports secured the rights to the BCS in the late 2000s when it had no college football rights. At the time, it seemed like an odd decision for not only the network but the BCS. Why would you partner with a network that didn’t air your product for your most important games?
Now, we know that the package was a precursor of FOX Sports going all in on college football, and now rivaling ESPN for supremacy in the sport.
So, is this strictly TNT and TBS viewing the College Football Playoff as a nice jewel to have, or could the networks be a player in college football TV rights deals down the line?
This is just a smart business strategy for WBD, right?
The network pays hundreds of millions for a Major League Baseball package that, to be frank, hardly anyone watches. Until October, that is. And then the eyeballs come in the millions for Postseason baseball.
If you’ve seen that you’re essentially paying for the postseason, why pay anything else for the regular season? It’s the old adage “Why by the cow when you can get the milk for free?”
Why make a rights deal for the ACC or Big 12 — and maybe even a second or third-tier rights deal at that — when you can simply buy four to six games to the College Football Playoffs?
Could an expansion of the relationship between WBD and CBS Sports be on the horizon?
The two entities share the rights to March Madness. Could they combine for another mega deal to freeze out FOX Sports or NBC Sports from getting a slice of the College Football Playoffs pie? It sure would make a lot of sense, wouldn’t it?
The two have an obvious working relationship. It would be in both of their best interests to work together. It makes too much sense.
Now, for the College Football Playoff, I go back to the question the BCS should have asked: Why would you partner with a network that didn’t air your product for your most important games?
The answer isn’t a pleasant one, and frankly shouldn’t be the only driving factor, but let’s be honest with ourselves, it’s all that matters in college football. Money. That’s the only answer. The College Football Playoff is going to be driven by whoever is going to give it the most Benjamins. Is it ideal? No. But it is reality.
Should a deal between Warner Bros. Discovery and the College Football Playoff happen — and I’m skeptical that it’s really an option — there would be even more questions about how the partnership would work.
But let’s wait to cross that bridge when we get there.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
