Business

MLB viewership numbers on TNT Sports and Fox Sports have been strong throughout the playoffs.
Star power and compelling storylines have helped draw attention.
The solid postseason is a continuation of a 2024 regular season when fan attendance and engagement increased.

Shohei Ohtani, #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers, hits a two-run home run, his 50th of the season, becoming the first player with a 50/50 season in MLB history, during the seventh inning against the Miami Marlins at LoanDepot park in Miami on Sept. 19, 2024.
Megan Briggs | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Major League Baseball’s postseason has been knocking it out of the park.
The National League Championship Series’ first game between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday averaged 8.26 million viewers across Fox Sports’ TV networks and streaming, making it the most-watched LCS game on any network since 2009, according to Fox Sports.

The first game of the American League Championship Series on Monday night between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians saw an uptick of 4% from 2023, grossing 3.9 million viewers, according to a TNT Sports spokesperson.
Both series were competing for national attention during “Sunday Night Football” and “Monday Night Football,” where all three of New York’s National Football League teams were playing in the primetime slots.
The championship series gains come right after four successful league division series for MLB and its broadcast partners. The American League Division Series averaged three million viewers, a more than 20% increase from 2023, according to TNT Sports. Viewership for the National League Division Series rose, too, with game four in each series climbing from 2022.
Concerns have grown in recent years that MLB’s cultural relevance is falling, namely as younger generations perceived to have shorter attention spans age into key demographics for media companies. Highlights and clips have become go-to programming for sports broadcasters.
Last year’s World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks also tracked the worst TV ratings in the championship series’ history, although some reportedly had attributed it to the fact that the teams did not have much national appeal.

The 2024 regular season was a success for MLB, as well. The league said it recorded increases in attendance, fan engagement, streaming and viewership, something it attributes to the shorter games —helped by a pitch clock introduced last season — and rule changes that have created more in-game action.
“The increased enthusiasm baseball fans of all ages have shown the last two seasons is evident in all of the ways we track fan engagement,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a release. “Building off last year’s momentum, the 2024 season was memorable with historic performances, emerging young stars, a series of successful special events, and tight pennant races.”

Mr. Met poses before the game between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets at Citi Field on Sept. 14, 2022.
Rob Tringali | Major League Baseball | Getty Images

MLB has recently implemented several rule changes designed to increase action in games such as making the bases larger and restricting the shift. The league has also leaned in to its generational stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, who are on the Dodgers and Yankees, respectively, and would face off in the World Series if each of their teams win their LCS.
“The two most storied franchises in Major League Baseball coming together and playing in the World Series, there couldn’t be anything better for baseball,” Eldridge Industries CEO Todd Boehly said Tuesday to CNBC’s Scott Wapner on “Halftime Report.” Boehly’s firm is an owner of the Dodgers, among other professional teams.
The two other remaining teams, the Mets and Guardians, have their own draws. The Mets turned around their season in June after a winning streak, which followed a McDonald’s mascot, Grimace, throwing out a first pitch at a game.
The Guardians righted their season after giving up their division lead to the Kansas City Royals at the end of August behind a hot September from their star Jose Ramirez.
The Yankees have a 2-0 game lead against the Guardians, and the Mets-Dodgers series is tied at 1-1.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

Diamond Sports and FanDuel have reached a naming rights agreement for Diamond Sports’ regional sports networks.
The agreement will start with the 2024 NHL and NBA seasons and will be long-term, pending Diamond’s emergence from bankruptcy, according to a bankruptcy court filing.
The agreement gives FanDuel the right to buy equity in the reorganized Diamond Sports.

Pavlo Gonchar | Lightrocket | Getty Images

More change is coming to Diamond Sports’ regional sports networks.
The company said in court papers filed Tuesday that it reached a naming rights deal with Flutter-owned FanDuel, which will rebrand the Bally Sports channels just as the National Hockey League season has started and the National Basketball Association’s 2024-2025 season is less than a week away.

Diamond Sports said in the filing that if it is able to emerge from bankruptcy protection, FanDuel will be a “long-term naming rights partner.” The new naming rights agreement would also give FanDuel the right to buy up to 5% of equity in the reorganized company and get performance warrants for up to 5% of equity.
The agreement is subject to court approval.
The new partnership will allow Diamond Sports to get one step closer to emerging from bankruptcy and will give FanDuel, which is already the top sports betting company by market share, even more exposure.
In Tuesday’s court papers, Diamond said that while discussions with FanDuel began in February, it waited until it finalized agreements with the NBA and NHL to negotiate the final terms of the naming rights deal. A FanDuel representative declined to comment beyond the filings, and the specific financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Diamond Sports said in court papers it considered FanDuel “an attractive potential partner … due to the high degree of alignment” between the regional sports networks and the online gaming business.

This will be the regional sports networks’ third name. As part of its acquisition of Fox Corp.’s assets, Disney had to divest the networks in order to gain regulatory approval. Disney offloaded the networks, still under the Fox Sports banner, in 2019 to Sinclair. A naming rights deal was later signed with gaming company Bally’s Corp.
The Bally’s Corp. agreement ended as part of the settlement that came earlier this year between Diamond Sports and Sinclair.
Diamond, which remains an independently run, unconsolidated subsidiary of Sinclair, alleged in the lawsuit that Sinclair’s ownership exacerbated its problems. Sinclair did not admit wrongdoing.
Diamond Sports filed for bankruptcy protection last year. Since then, Diamond’s restructuring has been filled with back-and-forth discussions with the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball as the debt-saddled company has attempted to emerge from bankruptcy.
Diamond Sports has said in court papers that based on financial projections, it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy as early as December.
Throughout the bankruptcy proceedings, teams across all three leagues have been exiting the networks and flocking to different local viewing options for their fans.
Earlier this month, Diamond Sports said it was planning to drop all of its MLB teams except for the Atlanta Braves for the 2025 season. The existing teams’ contracts are in various stages with Diamond Sports, but in total, the company would see 11 MLB teams exit.
A Diamond Sports attorney said in court earlier this month that dropping these teams “is not our preferred path.”
Several MLB teams, including the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, left the regional sports networks in 2023, and the MLB has produced the teams’ local games since then. On Tuesday, the league announced it would also do the same for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins for the 2025 season.
Some NBA teams that have left the regional sports networks have turned to local broadcast stations to air local games. The NHL’s Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks have launched over-the-top streaming partnerships with Victory+, a sports streamer owned by Canada-based A Parent Media Co., for their local viewing. More

Private equity billionaire Tom Gores has agreed to pay $750 million to buy 27% of the National Football League’s Los Angeles Chargers.
The deal was struck at an enterprise value of $4 billion, more than a 30% discount to the team’s value of $5.83 billion, according to CNBC’s Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations.
Gores also owns the National Basketball Association’s Detroit Pistons.

Detroit Pistons team owner Tom Gores claps during the press conference on July 30, 2021 at the Pistons Performance Center in Detroit, Michigan. 
Nic Antaya | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Private equity billionaire Tom Gores has agreed to pay $750 million to buy 27% of the National Football League’s Los Angeles Chargers at an enterprise value of $4 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic details.
The $4 billion valuation is more than a 30% discount to the team’s value of $5.83 billion, according to CNBC’s Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations. Limited partners with no path to control of the team typically get about a 20% to 25% discount in these deals.

Gores likely got a larger than usual discount because he bought such a large chunk of the Chargers — 27%, just 3% shy of the required stake for a controlling owner, though he will be a limited partner with no say in how the team is run.
The deal is also subject to a “flip tax” of 10% the sale amount, with the obligation to pay falling on the seller, which will be equally divided among the other 31 teams in the league. The flip tax was an agreement the Chargers made with the league in 2015 as part of the pact to move the team to Los Angeles and is similar to the deal the Las Vegas Raiders made with the NFL before moving from Oakland, California.
Gores is buying the entire 24% stake previously held by Dea Spanos Berberian as well as 1% each from Dean, Alexis and Michael Spanos, according to one of the people familiar with the deal.
When the sale in completed, Dean, Alexis and Michael Spanos will own 69% of the team combined, the person said, while Gores and his wife, Holly, will hold 27% and two long-time limited partners will retain a combined 4%.
Dean Spanos remains the controlling owner and chairman of the board of the Chargers. His father, the late Alex G. Spanos, bought the team in 1984 for $72 million.

This transaction will also resolve, in their entirety, all of Berberian’s legal disputes with her three siblings and with the Chargers. These disputes date back to 2021, when Berberian brought a lawsuit seeking to force a sale of the franchise. The legal action, and related actions filed by Berberian and her family, all ultimately failed to proceed.
Gores also owns the the National Basketball Association’s Detroit Pistons. The private equity founder along with this firm, Platinum Equity, bought the team for $325 million in 2011. Gores bought Platinum’s stake in 2015 giving him 100% of the team’s equity.
The purchase of the Chargers stake is solely by Gores and not affiliated with Platinum Equity. The NFL declined to comment on the deal.
Although stadium economics are an important factor in determining team valuations, when it comes to sports Gores seems to prefer being a renter rather than an operator.
The Pistons play in Little Caesars Arena, which is home to the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings. The Ilitch family, which own the Red Wings, operates the arena, meaning they get the money from non-NHL and non-NBA events.
Likewise, the Chargers play in SoFi Stadium, which is also the home of the Los Angeles Rams. Stan Kroenke, who owns the Rams, also owns the stadium, which is the main reason why the Rams are worth $8 billion compared with $5.83 billion for the Chargers, according to CNBC’s 2024 rankings.
But renting has its advantages: You don’t have to pay the financing or operating expenses of the stadium, nor do you have the responsibility of booking events.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO

Correction: Tom Gores’ deal for a stake in the Los Angeles Chargers is subject to a “flip tax” of 10% the sale amount, with the obligation to pay falling on the seller. A previous version mischaracterized the tax. More

Unrivaled, the new pro women’s basketball league, signed an exclusive multiyear media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT Sports.
The league, which was founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, will begin its inaugural season in January. Games will air on cable networks TNT and truTV, as well as streaming platform Max.
TNT Sports will also invest an undisclosed amount in the league as part of the media rights deal.

Napheesa Collier, #24 of the Minnesota Lynx, scores the game-winning basket during the game against the New York Liberty in Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Oct. 10, 2024.
Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

Warner Bros. Discovery is ensuring pro basketball will stay on TNT Sports.
Unrivaled, the new and upcoming pro women’s basketball league, signed an exclusive, multiyear media rights deal to air its games on TNT and truTV, as well as streaming platform Max. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.

The three-on-three league was co-founded earlier this year by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty and Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx as the popularity of women’s sports — basketball in particular — rises.
The WNBA got a lift this season from rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese — with big increases in regular season attendance and viewership. That has carried through to the postseason and most recently the Finals, which feature both Collier and Stewart. That has even translated to changes to the WNBA’s season next year, which will expand from 40 games to 44 games, and its Final series from five games to seven games.
Unrivaled will operate in a new format and in the months before the WNBA season, allowing athletes another option to play basketball in the U.S. during the offseason, rather than having to play overseas. It will also give players equity in the new league, and feature contract opportunities that will offer the highest average salary in women’s pro sports league history.
Reese and other top WNBA players have confirmed they will play in the new league, along with Stewart and Collier.
Beginning Jan. 17, there will be more than 45 primetime regular season matchups airing across TNT Sports platforms during the season. Games will be featured on TNT Sports’ platforms three nights a week, including two games a week on TNT on Mondays and Fridays, and additional broadcasts on truTV on Saturdays, according to the release.

Unrivaled highlights and other content will be also be available on other TNT platforms such as Bleacher Report and House of Highlights.
Unlike other sports leagues, Unrivaled’s games will air solely across TNT Sports rather than having various partners.
“I think consistency is key for us. If you build a consistent home, the fans know where to go,” said Alex Bazzell, Unrivaled president. “The second side of this is you want to partner with someone who wants to tell the story outside of the games and help push that forward. So them having Bleacher Report and House of Highlights … is pretty valuable for us.”
The heightened interest in the WNBA led to the league’s most recent media rights deal being valued at $2.2 billion for 11 seasons, CNBC previously reported. The WNBA’s media rights deal is negotiated as part of the NBA’s agreement.
The NBA’s recent 11 year, $77 billion media rights deal — which begins in the 2025-2026 season — with Amazon, Disney’s ESPN and Comcast’s NBCUniversal saw the end of a nearly 40-year relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Turner Sports. Warner Bros. Discovery has sued the NBA in a bid to maintain its rights.
The media rights deal with Unrivaled gives Turner Sports the opportunity to keep basketball on its air if it is not successful in its lawsuit.
Unrivaled and TNT Sports will partner with Mediapro North America for audio and TV production.
Star broadcaster and NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley recently said he wouldn’t leave TNT Sports even if the company doesn’t have NBA media rights in the future. Barkley is part of TNT Sports’ popular “Inside the NBA” program.
TNT Sports will develop the pregame, postgame and other studio content, but specific talent has yet to be decided upon, spokespeople for Turner and Unrivaled said.
TNT Sports has recently beefed up its roster — which already includes Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League — with some college football playoff games and The French Open, among other sports.

Star investor lineup

The new league has a hot lineup of investors, which will now also include TNT Sports.
In the Wednesday announcement, Unrivaled said it has “sustained stability and financial security for all players and stakeholders through at least 2028.”
When Unrivaled was announced earlier this year, it had just closed on a seed fund rounding and its investors included media executives such as former ESPN President John Skipper, ex-Turner President David Levy, and former Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff. The investors also included athletes like former NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony and others who invested through the venture capital firm led by Alex Morgan, the recently retired star and captain of the U.S women’s national soccer team.
Levy, who invested through his Horizon Sports & Experiences, and Skipper spearheaded the media rights discussions.
TNT Sports has also agreed to invest an undisclosed amount in Unrivaled’s latest funding round, which is expected to close in coming weeks.
The investment fits in with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s interest in doing sports deals that include ownership of intellectual property, which was earlier reported by CNBC. More

Novavax said the Food and Drug Administration has put a hold on its application for a combination shot targeting Covid and influenza and a stand-alone flu vaccine, sending shares of the company down sharply. 
The so-called clinical hold is due to a single report of nerve damage in a patient who received the combination shot in a phase two trial that finished in July last year. 
it appears to be a setback for the biotech company, which is scrambling to bring new products to market as demand for its Covid vaccine plummets worldwide.

A health worker prepares a dose of the Novavax vaccine as the Dutch Health Service Organization starts with the Novavax vaccination program on March 21, 2022 in The Hague, Netherlands.
Patrick Van Katwijk | Getty Images

Novavax on Wednesday said the Food and Drug Administration has put a hold on its application for a combination shot targeting Covid and influenza and a stand-alone flu vaccine, sending the company’s shares down sharply. 
The biotech company’s stock fell nearly 20% on Wednesday. The so-called clinical hold is due to a single report of nerve damage in a patient who received the combination shot in a phase two trial that finished in July last year. 

A clinical hold is an order issued by the FDA to a manufacturer to delay or suspend a proposed clinical investigation on a drug.
It is unclear if the pause will impact Novavax’s ability to start and release data on phase three trials on those vaccines. Still, it appears to be a setback for the biotech company, which is scrambling to bring new products to market as demand for its Covid vaccine plummets worldwide.
Novavax said it was working with the FDA to resolve the clinical hold on its combination shot and stand-alone flu vaccine. The company said other trials of its Covid and flu shots had not shown any safety concerns related to the type of nerve damage reported in the patient. 
Novavax said it does not believe there’s an established connection that the vaccine had caused the nerve damage in the patient, but said it is working to provide more information to the FDA. 

More CNBC health coverage

“Our goal is to successfully resolve this matter and to start our Phase 3 trial as soon as possible,” Dr. Robert Walker, Novavax’s chief medical officer, said in a release. 

Public health officials see Novavax’s protein-based Covid vaccine as a valuable alternative for people who don’t want to take mRNA shots from Pfizer and Moderna, which use a newer vaccine method to teach cells how to make proteins that trigger an immune response against Covid.
Novavax’s shot, meanwhile, fends off the virus with protein-based technology, a decades-old method used in routine vaccinations against hepatitis B and shingles.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

A giant BIRDCAGE held models wearing Chanel’s latest clothes at its show for Paris fashion week on October 1st. The exhibit in the Grand Palais had all the hallmarks of the 114-year-old fashion house: sophistication, skirt suits and even a little black dress. Yet at the end there was no designer to take the applause. In June Virginie Viard, Chanel’s creative director since 2019, stepped down. Ms Viard was only the third person to hold the role. She took over from Karl Lagerfeld, a sharp-tongued German who held the role for 36 years and once called sweatpants “a sign of defeat”. Mr Lagerfeld’s predecessor was Coco Chanel. The front rows of runway shows are now rife with gossip about who will bag fashion’s most prestigious job. An announcement is expected this month. More

It’s not easy being a customer-service agent—particularly when those customers are so angry with a product that they want to yell at you down the phone. That’s the sort of rage that Sonos, a maker of home-audio systems, encountered in May when it released an app update so full of glitches it caused its share price to plunge. More

NFL owners approved former superstar quarterback Tom Brady as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Brady also owns a small stake in the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces.
Brady retired from the NFL in 2023 and holds a lucrative broadcast deal with Fox Sports.

Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis walks off the field with former NFL quarterback Tom Brady before the preseason game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Las Vegas Raiders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Aug. 26, 2023.
Matthew Pearce | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

National Football League owners approved Tom Brady as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday.
The seven-time Super Bowl champ bought about a 10% stake in the Raiders with his business partner, Knighthead Capital founder Tom Wagner.

Brady and Wagner are buying into the Raiders at about a $3.5 billion valuation, with an equity investment of about $220 million as part of the partnership, according to people familiar with the negotiations. On top of that amount, Brady and Wagner also had to pay a 10% “flip tax,” the proceeds of which will be divided among the league’s 31 other owners.
Separately, former NFL player Richard Seymour purchased a less than 1% stake in the Raiders, also at a $3.5 billion valuation, the people said.
The NFL’s 32 team owners signed off on the deal unanimously at the league meeting in Atlanta, the person told CNBC. Brady and Wagner did not attend the meeting, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“I am eager to contribute to the organization in any way I can, honoring the Raiders’ rich tradition while finding every possible opportunity to improve our offering to fans…and most importantly, WIN football games,” Brady said in a statement.
CNBC’s Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations pegged the Raiders as the NFL’s fifth-most valuable franchise, worth $7.8 billion, meaning Brady and Wagner got over a 50% discount. The typical discount for a limited partner with no say in how the team is run and no path to control ownership is 20% to 25%, according to sports bankers.

The value of the Raiders has climbed since the team relocated from Oakland in 2020. Prior to the move, the team was valued among the bottom half of the league’s 32 teams.
Since the team moved to Las Vegas and its new stadium, its revenue has increased significantly. The Raiders earned $780 million in revenue in 2023, the third highest in the league, and generated EBITDA of $115 million, according to CNBC’s valuations.
While Allegiant Stadium is among the smallest in the NFL at 65,000 seats, the Raiders compensated by charging the highest ticket price in the league, CNBC previously reported. The average general ticket price last season was $169.
Allegiant Stadium, which is operated by the Raiders, also hosts numerous non-NFL events throughout the year, which brings in additional revenue for the franchise. In 2023, the Raiders took in over $50 million from concerts and other events like college football.
Brady’s bid for a piece of the team began in May 2023 but has been held up because some owners felt the initial offer was too discounted.
After he first retired from the NFL, Brady signed a 10-year, $375 million broadcasting deal with Fox Sports in 2022. Brady’s new ownership will come with restrictions on how he covers the team.
For example, Brady would be allowed to broadcast Raiders games, but he would not be permitted to attend in-person or online production meetings. He also may not have access to team facilities, players and coaches.
Brady will also be subject to the league rules that prohibit public criticism of officials and other clubs.
The five-time Super Bowl MVP is not new to the Las Vegas sports scene. He is also a minority owner of the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Las Vegas Aces, which, like the Raiders, is owned by Mark Davis.
Brady will be just the third former NFL player to become a team owner.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More