Austin Karp and Mollie Cahillane of the Sports Business Journal talked about the merger of David Ellison’s Skydance Media and Paramount on the latest edition of The Sports Media Podcast. While there are many hurdles to clear, the terms of the deal were agreed to and the structure set with Ellison set to become CEO of the new company some are calling ‘New Paramount’ and former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell coming on as president.
Karp asked Cahillane, “What is the biggest impact on sports for this deal?”
“I do not think the merger of Skydance and Paramount, more of a takeover rather than a merger, is going to have a massive impact on their sports properties,” Cahillane said. “CBS has long relied on sports…and with Jeff Shell coming in as President, we are talking about former NBCUniversal Jeff Shell, sports aren’t going anywhere. I don’t see them as part of any of the offloading that is planned for the Paramount properties.”
“I don’t think that sports is going anywhere, it’s actually going to be helped, if anything,” Karp agreed. “Like you said, Jeff Shell, seasoned sports executive…the guy knows sports in and out and so does David Ellison, the owner of Skydance.
“Skydance Sports, for a couple of years now, has been a marquee partner of the NFL in terms of creating content. They’ve done some of the documentaries, like the Jerry Jones one that was just sold for $50 million to Netflix. They’re the ones that were kind of behind the Kansas City Chiefs doing this movie with Hallmark that’s going to be coming out…If you combine the expertise that RedBird Capital, which is some of the money behind Skydance, has in sports, it really portends well for the future of CBS Sports and Paramount as a player out there in the space.”
According to Variety, Skydance said the deal has an enterprise value of $28 billion, with Skydance itself valued at $4.75 billion. Skydance and its partners will reportedly invest more than $8 billion into the company.
The projected closing date for the sale is by Sept. 30, 2025.
