TNT Sports parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two entities, with sports something of an unknown in the future corporate equation. 

After months of speculation, WBD said early Monday that it will split into two independent, publicly traded companies: a Streaming & Studios operation including WBD’s film and TV productions, DC Studios, HBO, HBO Max, and WBD’s film and TV libraries, and a separate Global Networks business that will include TNT Sports in the U.S., Bleacher Report, CNN, Discovery, and free-to-air channels in Europe. 

WBD president and CEO David Zaslav, whose 2024 compensation of $51.9 million just received a firm rebuke from investors, will lead the Streaming & Studios company. Gunnar Wiedenfels, WBD’s CFO, will assume the same role for Global Networks. 

The separation, targeted for completion in mid-2026, is designed to unlock shareholder value, particularly as WBD stock has sagged by nearly two-thirds since the 2022 merger between AT&T’s Warner Media and Discovery Communications to create the current company. Similar to Comcast’s spin-off of most of its cable networks in an entity now called Versant, the move also seeks to limit some of the exposure from cord-cutting that is fundamentally reshaping the linear TV business. 

Deal Structures

In the new structure, Zaslav and the Streaming & Studios group he’ll lead will have most of WBD’s top intellectual property and a future in streaming. The Global Networks group, led by Wiedenfels, more consistently makes money as of now, but also has more long-term downside and will inherit most of WBD’s current debt. Global Networks will hold up to a 20% stake in Streaming & Studios, and it will look to use earnings from that holding to pay down the debt. 

“The decision to separate Warner Bros. Discovery reflects our belief that each company can now go further and faster apart than they can together,” Zaslav said on a Monday call with Wall Street analysts.

Sports programming, however, remains something of a muddled entity in the broader vision. As of now, TNT Sports has a home in the Global Networks business, but many of the company’s top events are shown on Max, set to revert this summer to its prior HBO Max name. 

“The U.S. sports rights will reside at Global Networks, and its management team will determine the streaming and digital rights over time,” Wiedenfels said.

Zaslav, however, added that in the U.S., sports “hasn’t been a real driver” for streaming consumption on Max, extending a more dismissive posture he’s held regarding the company’s live rights. 

Investors initially cheered the forthcoming split, sending WBD shares up more than 10% in early Monday trading. The rally would soon fizzle, though, and stock ultimately closed down 3% for the day, ending the session at $9.53 per share.

Roland-Garros Success

As WBD remains in the midst of a significant transition with its sports portfolio, most recently nearing additional College Football Playoff sublicensing rights from ESPN, the company also had a huge lift from its now-concluded coverage of the French Open. Final viewership data is not expected until Tuesday, but the network’s debut effort in Paris included the instant classic, five-set men’s championship match between Jannik Sinner and champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Even before Alcaraz completed his win, WBD extended on Sunday its European rights, outside of France itself, to the French Open through at least 2030. During the first week of the tournament, WBD said it generated streaming audience increases across many key European territories, including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the U.K.

College athletic departments have less than a month to finalize how they will implement revenue-sharing with student-athletes, after the House v. NCAA settlement was finally approved Friday evening.

Four years to the day after the NCAA started allowing NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals, universities will now be allowed to pay student-athletes directly, beginning July 1.

Division I schools can offer up to $20.5 million to all the current players, but it’s not guaranteed that every program will.

Planning Full Payouts

Alabama AD Greg Byrne confirmed on Saturday that the Crimson Tide will be “fully funding revenue sharing” while also offering new scholarships and continuing efforts around NIL opportunities. Byrne did not specify how much money would be allocated to each sport.

Colorado AD Rick George also said the Buffaloes intend to “fully meet the $20.5 million responsibility” and specified that each of the school’s athletic programs will have a revenue-share budget that is “proportional to the revenue that sport generates.” All Colorado student-athletes will be able to participate in revenue-sharing in the form of entering into a licensing agreement with CU Athletics. Earlier this year, Colorado became one of the latest schools to ditch its NIL collective in preparation for the revenue-sharing era.

Texas Two-Step

Before the settlement was finalized, Texas and Texas Tech were among the schools to reveal how they expected to split up revenue-sharing dollars. They are both following what is expected to be a common model of allocating roughly 75%, which amounts to $15.37 million, to football.

Texas is planning 15% for men’s basketball and 5% for women’s hoops, while Texas Tech is going with 17.5% and 2.5%, respectively. The remaining 5% will be spread out among other sports and is likely to vary from school to school depending on their specialties. For example, the Longhorns and Red Raiders, who just met in the Women’s College World Series, may want to invest more in their softball programs.

Big Paydays, Smaller Budgets

While Power 4 athletic departments likely have no issue committing the full $20.5 million in revenue-sharing, that’s not the case all around the country. 

The American Athletic Conference is requiring its schools to share at least $10 million of athletic revenue with athletes over the next three years. AAC commissioner Tim Pernetti has said he expects many of his conference’s schools to exceed that $10 million threshold in the first year alone, though.

Meanwhile, schools that don’t have football programs could theoretically allocate a disproportionate amount to their basketball programs, something Big East commissioner Val Ackerman said should be an advantage.

The Pacers are ready to commit to their core, even if it means crossing a salary threshold for the first time in two decades.

Indiana is prepared to re-sign Myles Turner, who is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, to a multiyear extension, ESPN’s Shams Charania said Sunday ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Turner is expected to command around $30 million per year, which would push the Pacers above the luxury tax for the first time since the 2005–06 season. 

“The Pacers have determined that they will be entering the luxury tax next season for the first time in 20 years. They want to keep this team intact and make a real run not only this season, but for the next few seasons to come,” Charania said.

Turner, who Indiana drafted No. 11 overall in 2015 and is the longest-tenured Pacer on the roster, is reportedly interested in a return. Turner’s future has been in question for years, especially after it became clear the team would need to enter the luxury tax once it agreed to long-term extensions with Tyrese Haliburton (five years, $244.6 million) and Pascal Siakam (four years, $189.5 million).

“I’ve been on the trade block for like six years,” Turner wrote in The Players’ Tribune in May. “I’m only a few years removed from when I was having a hard time making it one day to the next. I’ve been through too damn much to front like I don’t have perspective.”

Softer Penalty

A change written in the NBA CBA will give the Pacers a little bit of reprieve as they cross the luxury-tax threshold.

For the last two seasons, teams within about $5 million to $10 million of the luxury tax would need to pay about $1.75 per dollar over the limit. For the 2025–26 season, teams within that roughly $5.7 million to $11.4 million range of the tax will be penalized only $1.25 for every dollar above the tax. 

The Pacers will be about $17 million below the luxury-tax mark, which is projected to be $187.9 million next year, assuming they exercise the $2.9 million team option of Tony Bradley, one of Turner’s backups.

That will give the Pacers close to $30 million in space next year to offer Turner while staying within the first luxury-tax bracket.

The penalty for teams that are “repeat” offenders of the luxury tax is that they will pay a minimum of $3 for every dollar of tax instead of the $2.50 they paid over the last two seasons. Fortunately for the Pacers, they have avoided the tax for decades, though this deal will put them at risk in future years.

Indiana will also avoid the dreaded second-apron, which comes with roster-building penalties on top of the monetary ones.