The NFL is not likely to exercise a change-of-ownership option to renegotiate or exit its media-rights deal with CBS Sports parent Paramount Global, league commissioner Roger Goodell said.

Speaking on CNBC at the Sun Valley Conference in Idaho, Goodell instead said the more probable option is to stick with CBS Sports as Paramount seeks to close its proposed $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. The deal is now in front of the Federal Communications Commission for approval. 

“We’ve had a long relationship with CBS, for decades. We also have a relationship outside of that with Skydance. So I don’t anticipate that [an opt-out is] something that we’ll see. We have a two-year period to make that decision. I don’t see that happening, but we have that option.”

At the same event last year, Goodell was more noncommittal about the Paramount opt-out provision. Much more recently, though, the company reached a $16 million settlement with U.S. President Donald Trump to resolve allegations Paramount’s 60 Minutes improperly edited an interview with 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. 

The settlement has been widely criticized on legal and journalistic grounds, but it is also seen as something that will help pave the way for the Paramount-Skydance merger to close. To that end, Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks said at a shareholders meeting last week that the settlement “offers a negotiated resolution that allows companies to focus on their core objectives, rather than being mired in uncertainty and distraction.”

After another 90-day extension was implemented earlier this week, the Paramount-Skydance deal is now targeted for closing by Oct. 6.

Future Considerations

The NFL’s likeliest path remains exercising a broader set of contract opt-outs in its domestic media rights, arriving in 2029 for all of its existing partners, and in 2030 for ESPN. Front Office Sports sources say the league opting out then is a virtual lock, particularly given that the NFL continues to extend its position as by far the most popular programming in U.S. television, regardless of genre. 

“We really went a long way to put [the opt-outs] into the last contracts. Having the ability to do that, having that option to that, I think, will be valuable for us,” Goodell said, though adding a formal decision has not yet been made. 

In the meantime, CBS Sports will show the Chiefs, the league’s top viewership draw, most frequently in the 2025 season. The network will have as many as nine Kansas City games during the season.

The NFL, meanwhile, is an equity partner in Skydance and also develops content with that company.

After more than six years of planning, plenty of political bumps along the way, and a rare relocation of an MLB jewel event, Atlanta’s Truist Park is finally hosting an All-Star Game, though again not entirely as envisioned. 

The run of events for the 2025 All-Star Game has begun in earnest with Friday’s HBCU Swingman Classic, to be followed over the next four days with other core elements including the All-Star Futures Game, the draft, the Home Run Derby, and the All-Star Game itself. 

Truist Park was originally set to host the events in 2021, but MLB shifted them to Colorado’s Coors Field after Georgia passed the Election Integrity Act, sparking widespread outcry over elements such as limitations imposed on ballot drop boxes and absentee ballots.

Though the broader political landscape is certainly no less fractious than four years ago, parts of the state law have been adjusted and some concerns about voter suppression in Georgia have not necessarily materialized. Similarly, Braves officials have long since been focused on helping the league execute the events.

Now, with the long-planned showcase unfolding at last with a youth-driven energy in the game rosters, the team particularly sees the Midsummer Classic as a global showcase for The Battery, the team’s mixed-use development surrounding the eight-year-old Truist Park that has been a key influence across sports.

“We’ll actually have the ability to do some things with this that we wouldn’t have been able to do in 2021,” Braves president and CEO Derek Schiller tells Front Office Sports. “The Battery is certainly more built out since then, and there are many people coming in who still haven’t seen this. It’s going to be a great chance to really show this off, and have people discover everything we have to offer here and the walkability that’s going to be central to all of this. Things like [three-on-three co-ed baseball competition] Home Run Derby X and the draft are also much bigger now. 

“It’s all been a long time in the planning stage, but it’s really exciting to finally see this coming to life,” Schiller says. 

The Battery will also be the site of additional events such as a live broadcast on Monday of The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN.

Team Matters

Perhaps the biggest surprise now surrounding the 2025 All-Star Game is how disappointing the host club Braves have been on the field this season.

The Braves are “really, from our perspective, a model franchise,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said at a recent investor day for the publicly traded club, and in many respects, that’s definitely true. But after having MLB’s second-best World Series betting odds to open the season behind the defending-champion Dodgers, Atlanta entered Friday’s game at St. Louis with a 40–52 record, the NL’s fourth-worst mark.

Injuries have been a notable problem, with stars such as outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and pitcher Chris Sale having missed significant time. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner is out until at least late August. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, however, has been adamant there will not be a fire sale at the July 31 trade deadline, saying last month on WCNN-Radio, “I’ve seen the speculation. It’s completely ridiculous to me. Will. Not. Happen. Bold it. Italicize it. Caps.”

Most of the Braves’ player core remains under team control for multiple years. 

“We certainly want the team to be doing better than it is, but we’re not giving up by any means,” Schiller says. “We haven’t met expectations and remain heads down on turning this around.”

The NCAA is still considering expanding March Madness as soon as next year, after leaders met this week and discussed the idea.

“The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committees met this week. The topic of expanding the field for each championship was discussed at length but no decision or recommendation was made,” NCAA SVP of basketball Dan Gavitt said in a statement released late Thursday. “The still viable outcomes include the tournaments remaining at 68 teams or expanding the fields to either 72 or 76 teams in advance of the 2026 or 2027 championships.”

The update follows comments in May from NCAA president Charlie Baker, who said there had been “good conversations” with men’s March Madness media-rights holders CBS Sports and TNT Sports about adding more games to the tournament.

However, several veteran sports-media executives previously told Front Office Sports they didn’t believe CBS and TNT would be willing to increase their March Madness rights fees—which combined are already worth roughly $1 billion annually—if the NCAA green-lit expansion.

The terms of the NCAA’s media contract with Disney for the women’s tournament stipulate that ESPN is not required to pay extra if women’s March Madness expands, sources have told FOS. The network has, however, committed to broadcasting any extra games on its platforms. ESPN’s deal pays an average of $115 million annually for more than 40 NCAA championships, valuing women’s March Madness at $65 million annually.

In May, Baker said that the goal was to “try to either get to yes or no sometime in the next few months.” It would seem likely a decision to expand the 2026 March Madness tournaments would need to be made by the end of summer, before colleges begin their fall semesters.

LIV Golf has again applied for accreditation with the Official World Golf Ranking, nearly two years after its first attempt was denied.

On Friday, the OWGR announced it had received an application from LIV seeking inclusion in its system on June 30, 2025, and a review process has commenced.

“The OWGR Board is committed to a thorough evaluation process of all applications, and LIV’s application will be reviewed in accordance with OWGR’s criteria to ensure fairness, integrity and consistency,” said Trevor Immelman, chairman of the OWGR board of directors, in a statement. “We appreciate the interest of LIV Golf—and all tours—in contributing to the global landscape of men’s professional golf through OWGR. Further updates will be provided as the review progresses.”

While LIV offers some of the richest purses in professional golf, its tournaments have not  awarded world ranking points since the league’s inception in 2022. That’s led to many previously high-ranked golfers having steep falls in the rankings, in turn making it much harder for them to qualify for the four major championships: The Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and Open Championship (also known as the British Open).

“We thank OWGR Chairman Trevor Immelman for his continued leadership and willingness to move the sport of golf forward for the benefit of all players and most importantly, the fans,” LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement. “LIV Golf is committed to working together with the Official World Golf Ranking and its board to ensure the very best players are competing in the game’s most prestigious events. We are confident our application addresses the outstanding questions that exist to support a more global, all-encompassing, and accurate ranking system. We are hopeful the review and approval process can progress ahead of the 2026 major season.”

The OWGR is effectively controlled by the majors, as they hold four of the seven seats on the OWGR board. The other three are held by representatives from the PGA Tour, European Tour Group, and International Federation of PGA Tours.

One More Try

LIV’s original OWGR application, led by former CEO and commissioner Greg Norman, was rejected in October 2023. Several factors led to the OWGR’s decision, including LIV events being 54 holes, not the standard 72; LIV events not having smaller fields (around 50 players) and no cut; and LIV having too many guaranteed spots in the league.

It’s unclear whether LIV plans to make any concessions to its tournament formats to improve its chances of earning OWGR points.

LIV is now led by a new CEO in O’Neil, who replaced Norman in January. Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion and lead CBS golf analyst, became the OWGR’s new board chair in April, succeeding Peter Dawson, who had held the post since 2016.