Paramount Is Gunning for ESPN’s Live Sports Crown

Another news cycle has indicated that the revamped Paramount Skydance intends to be a global juggernaut in sports and entertainment.

The company, led by David Ellison, the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, seems primed to challenge ESPN’s long-running supremacy for live sports rights in the United States. 

Earlier this week, Paramount formalized its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. While other bidders include Netflix and Comcast, The Hollywood Reporter indicates Paramount is the only party currently interested in all of WBD, including its cable networks TNT and TBS. Other elements of WBD include the fabled movie studio, and the HBO Max streaming service. 

On Friday, Paramount won the top rights package for UEFA Champions League in the U.K. as well as Spain, Italy, Germany, and France. The rights extend from 2027-28 through 2030-31 and totaled $11.5 billion alongside secondary holders including Amazon and Comcast, according to The Wall Street Journal. It is a continuation of a buying spree that also saw Paramount acquire exclusive UFC rights in a seven-year, $7.7 billion pact with TKO, as well as rights to Zuffa Boxing, a joint venture between TKO and Saudi official Turki Alalshikh. 

Paramount already has major Champions League rights in the United States on Paramount+ and CBS.

As Front Office Sports has previously detailed, if Paramount ultimately wins the bid for WBD and the acquisition passes regulatory muster, the combined company would be a behemoth in live sports rights. Paramount and WBD combine to share exclusive rights for the men’s basketball NCAA Tournament. 

Paramount also has rights for the NFL, Big Ten football and basketball, The Masters, the PGA Championship, and the PGA Tour. Its deals with UFC and Zuffa Boxing begin next year.

WBD, meanwhile, has rights for MLB (including a postseason package through the league championship series), the College Football Playoff (sublicensed from ESPN), Big 12 football and basketball (also sublicensed from ESPN), the NHL (including alternating Stanley Cup Finals rights with ESPN), the French Open, Big East basketball, Unrivaled women’s basketball, NASCAR, and AEW. 

The only truly marquee events where a combined Paramount and WBD would be lacking are in the NBA (which is split between ESPN, Amazon, and Comcast’s NBC), the SEC (where ESPN has exclusive rights), and the Olympics (all held by NBC). 

Variety reported that Paramount’s bid included backing from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates; Paramount called the report “categorically inaccurate.” 

Editor’s Note: Front Office Sports’s primary owner, RedBird IMI, is part-owned by RedBird Capital, which is an investor in Paramount.