Sports will remain a key priority for CBS and parent company Paramount in their new Skydance-led ownership structure, network officials insisted.
Less than a week after the closing of the $8 billion, hotly debated merger between Skydance and Paramount, signs have been clear both internally and externally of the critical role that CBS Sports will play going forward in the combined operation.
“They love sports. They value sports. They’ve been very public about that from the day they announced this deal,” CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson said during a Tuesday event to preview the network’s 2025 NFL coverage. “It’s continued to be very clear, and you saw that with our UFC announcement [Monday]. I don’t think that you could have made a bigger, bolder move right out of the gate.”
That seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with TKO Group Holdings for the U.S. rights to UFC could soon be joined by other rights deals. While the market for major, long-term sports rights is now quickly winnowing, there are some notable pieces still available. Among them:
- MLB: The league is marketing a short-term package of rights being abandoned by ESPN. “There are a lot of baseball fans around here, including some of our new management,” Berson said.
- Zuffa Boxing: Paramount has been directly linked to the new boxing venture backed by UFC parent company TKO Group Holdings and Saudi entities. Berson did not confirm a pending deal there but said, “We’re excited to see where they go with that. They’re getting close to finalizing something there. We have a great relationship, and I anticipate that, too, being quite successful for them.”
Big NFL Plans
CBS, meanwhile, is eyeing a bounceback year of sorts for its NFL viewership in 2025. High hopes last year ultimately did not materialize as regular-season ratings fell 1%. Average game viewership of 19.2 million, however, was still the network’s second-best figure since 1998, trailing only the record-setting 2023 campaign.
Helping lift those network hopes are two blockbuster games on its schedule: a Nov. 2 clash between the Chiefs and Bills, now arguably the NFL’s top rivalry, and a Thanksgiving game between Kansas City and Dallas, the league’s top two viewership draws. CBS will also have up to nine Chiefs games overall.
“We’re about big things that matter, and this is further testament of that,” Berson said.
Part of the ratings recovery could derive from a new relationship with measurement agency Nielsen, which is in the midst of rolling out an enhanced methodology to track viewership that includes both linear and streaming audiences.
“These are the metrics that they’re using, we’re using, everybody’s using,” Berson said. “Let’s just hope it reflects [viewership] accurately, and that we keep setting records.”
You Are Looking Live
The network’s 2025 NFL plans also include two notable pieces surrounding its The NFL Today pregame show. The stalwart programming will be expanded with a supplemental, digital show, The NFL Today+, that will air weekly from 10 a.m. ET to noon and particularly target younger viewers.
On Sept. 21, meanwhile, CBS will also have a throwback version of The NFL Today to honor the show’s 50th anniversary and its trailblazing role as a live lead-in to NFL game action. Original host and sports broadcasting icon Brent Musburger, now 86, will make a special appearance on the show, which will also feature vintage graphics.
