Over the past couple years as CBS parent company Paramount Global has pursued a sale, the biggest story around CBS Sports was that it lost rights to SEC football after 27 years. That status quo should change soon.
Despite a legal fight against the federal government and multiple high-profile departures from the news division, the merger between Paramount and Skydance Entertainment is expected to be approved by the U.S. Justice Department in the coming months.
When that happens, two top sports media insiders say, CBS Sports will once again be a major player in sports rights.
“When they make that deal, I think (David) Ellison and Co., they want to spend,” said Andrew Marchand of The Athletic on the latest episode of his podcast, Marchand Sports Media. “I think they get bigger into sports. I think they’re going to be bigger players.”
Jeff Shell, who left NBC Universal on bad terms in 2023, is expected to be president of Paramount under CEO and chair David Ellison after the merger. Shell, a Los Angeles resident with Dodgers season tickets, is known to be a sports fan. That only adds to the expectation around the industry that a Shell-led Paramount with more cash to spend will pursue live sports rights in the coming years.
“He loves sports. You can just look at his career. He understands the value of sports,” said John Ourand of Puck on the same podcast. “If he runs CBS, you’re going to have a deep-pocketed backer in David Ellison and Skydance, and you’re going to have somebody who understands the value of sports, which is critically important for the sports business, in that position.”
CBS still carries a fairly sizable roster of sports rights. The network’s streaming service, Paramount+, is also bigger than most competitors thanks to international soccer rights and the universe of popular television shows from creator Taylor Sheridan. Its most popular sports rights are the men’s NCAA basketball tournament and Final Four, a big NFL package that includes a Super Bowl in 2028, and soccer rights from UEFA, the NWSL and Serie A.
The biggest order of business for Shell and Ellison will be to find coins under the couch cushions to re-up the network’s massive NFL deal, which the league is expected to opt out of in 2029.
But as Ourand notes, because of Shell’s affinity for baseball, CBS could be a logical landing place for Major League Baseball when that deal ends in 2028. A new, bigger WNBA deal is expected soon. Other realistic options coming up soon include golf’s U.S. Open this year and the Open Championship in 2028; Formula 1 this year; or the newly reformed Pac-8 football in 2026.