Securing Access to Lucrative NFL Rights Huge Reason Behind Paramount Global & Warner Bros. Discovery Merger Talks

It looks like the media world is up for a major shakeup. And the major reason for this is football. There’s no doubt that football is the most popular sport in America, with the last Super Bowl drawing in a record viewership of 112.2 million. But while all major players in the media space have a piece of the NFL pie, Warner Brothers Discovery recently realized that if they are to expand and impress their shareholders, they need to get into the NFL as well.

That is what Guggenheim analysts discussed, and whether a deal involving the merger of two billion-dollar corporations is even possible. If the deal does go through, it could be one of the largest mergers in the industry’s history.

Warner Bros. Discovery could merge with Paramount Global

Front Office Sports took to X to share that multiple reports have suggested that two of the largest production houses in the country could be looking at a possible merger. The reason? NFL viewership is at an 8-year high, and while networks such as Amazon, Fox, and CBS have rights to broadcast NFL games, Warner Bros. Discovery doesn’t. This viewership is only going to grow, and WB does not want to miss the train.

Roger Goodell, the NFL’s Commissioner, has set an ambitious goal of achieving $25 billion in revenue by 2027 and the NFL is doing everything it can to increase its viewership. And since Paramount owns CBS, which has NFL broadcasting rights, the Warner Bros. Discovery will get an entry into the football world. The company already has NBA broadcasting rights, but in terms of viewership, the NBA is only one-fifth the size of the NFL.

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But the analysts also weighed in on why they think that the deal would not happen.

WBD is already neck-deep in debt

Pras Subramaniam said that WBD is “50 billion in debt” and cannot afford to buy Paramount, which is worth $8 billion and has no debt. Pras believes that WBD could “be gobbled up by a bigger competitor”. But in a recent earnings call, the top brass at the production company said that there is a “chance to be really opportunistic over the next 12 to 14 months.”

But Josh Schafer suggested another way out that would benefit both the NFL and WBD. If the league increased the number of games played per season, it could sell rights to those games to additional networks and rake in more dollars. That way, even WBD would not have to empty its coffers to buy out another company.

The third way, something that the NFL already has embarked upon, is franchising the NFL in Europe. With five games already held on European soil this season, is this the beginning of American football becoming truly international?

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