All Access

Media Deals

Standard

Media Deals Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

Media Deals Alerts

Alert

mustard

BFD Expert Voices - Media Deals

BFD Expert Voices

The NBA's media rights hit the market tomorrow. Let the bidding begin. 

Why it matters: The move marks the first significant change in TV partners for the $10 billion league in more than two decades, Tim writes.

State of play: The NBA's exclusive negotiating window with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to expire tonight without a new deal, a source with knowledge of the talks tells Tim.

The talks with Disney and WBD were complicated by the NBA's desire to add additional media partners, the source adds. The league, ESPN and WBD all declined to comment on the state of their negotiations.

The league will continue renewal discussions with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, according to the source. 

Amazon is viewed as a heavy favorite to land NBA rights, according to multiple media reports. 

Comcast, Apple, Google and even Netflix have all expressed some level of interest in NBA rights, a separate source with knowledge of those discussions had previously told Tim.

The league is using its All-Star Game, playoffs and new In-Season Tournament as anchors for any rights deal and could split the three events across different media partners, per The Athletic's Andrew Marchand.

The big picture: The sports TV market has tightened while the importance of live events has only grown for both linear TV and streaming companies.

Leagues are adding more media partners to get the overall price increases they're seeking.

The NBA's renewals are also coming at the same time as the WNBA looks to ride the "Caitlin Clark effect" and the overall rise of women's sports to score its own hefty price increase.

Flashback: The last time the NBA's TV rights were up for renewal, they never made it to the open market.

In October  2014, Disney and Turner committed to pay $24 billion over nine years to prevent then-newcomer Fox Sports 1 from grabbing a piece of the NBA.

1 big thing: Open season

Illustration of a basketball with the seam shaped like a dollar symbol

Swedish gaming group Embracer announced today that it plans to split into three separate listed companies and that it has secured new financing.

Why it's the BFD: The moves alleviates its debt and struggling stock price after a failed $2 billion deal with Saudi-funded Savvy Games, Kerry writes.

Zoom in: Embracer said the three companies will be Asmodee Group (tabletop games publisher and distributor), Coffee Stain & Friends (indie, mid-market and free-to-play games), and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends (top game developer, owning The Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider and other IP). 

Embracer, which trades on Nasdaq Stockholm, will be renamed Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. 

Asmodee and Coffee Stain & Friends will spinoff within the next 12 months and sometime in 2025, respectively, and shares will be distributed as a divided to Embracer shareholders.

Embracer secured a €900 million loan from JP Morgan, BNP Paribas, SEB, Societe Generale and Swedbank with a maturity of 18 months. The company said, in a separate press release, that it will be used to repay existing debt and reduce leverage.

Flashback: Embracer acquired 22 studios in 2021, making it the most active video game acquirer. But in recent months, it's been in cost-cutting mode — shutting down studios, canceling games and laying off staffers. 

Embracer also agreed to sell Borderlands developer Gearbox to Take-Two for a fraction of the value it paid. It purchased Gearbox for $1.3 billion in 2021 and agreed to sell last month for $460 million.

Embracer Group to split into three gaming companies

2. The BFD: Embracer's three-way split

Illustration of a game controller with an upward trending wire

Go deeper in our full database in the Axios Pro Deals Tracker.

• Triller is merging with Agba (Nasdaq: AGBA), a Hong Kong-based financial services company, at a combined enterprise value of $4b. Triller shareholders will own 80% of the new company, while current Agba shareholders will own 20%. axios.link/3UqNL25

• Amplica Labs acquired the tech assets of Speakeasy, a N.Y.-based online discussion service. axios.link/49KvxNa

• Blackstone proposed bidding $1.5b for music rights investment group Hipgnosis Songs Fund, topping a $1.4b offer from Apollo-backed Concord. axios.link/3JveHYg

• TA Associates and LEA Partners are weighing a sale of Chaos Group, a German maker of 3D video software that could fetch up to €1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3W8rreQ

• Salesforce (Nasdaq: CRM) abandoned efforts to buy data management software provider Informatica (NYSE: INFA), after the companies couldn't agree on terms, per Reuters. axios.link/3UqTgh7

3. Deal flow

• Sara Silverstein was named CEO of The Arena Group. She joined in 2021. https://axios.link/3wdro6J

• Andreessen Horowitz promoted Jennifer Li to general partner to help lead its new AI infrastructure fund. axios.link/3Up9do8

• Ronald Day was promoted to president of entertainment and CCO for Telemundo as part of a restructuring. Javier Pons was named EVP of Telemundo Studios. axios.link/4b2qiJL

• Izzy Gould was named CCO of The Daily Memphian. Prior, she was senior director of content of AL.com. https://axios.link/3W03O8d

• Jeff Boone joined Fremantle's North American team as VP of scripted development. axios.link/3xLSbaP

• Marshall Weinbaum was named manager of awards (animation) at Netflix after spending the past 17 years at Disney. axios.link/4b54vRP

4. Movin' on up (or out)

🤫 The secret retreats that have CEOs, VIPs and billionaires jockeying for invites (WSJ)

"Musk and others attending the Weekend, and gatherings like it, get to exist for a brief time in a buffered safe space where CEOs, celebrities, athletes and political leaders know that no one will tweet a photo of them working out or waiting in line for Champagne," Sara Ashley O'Brien, Emily Glazer and Jessica Toonkel report.

⚖️ Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment sued over Redbox acquisition by consultant who claims he's owed several million dollars (Variety)

"Per [CEO and chairman Bill] Rouhana's instructions and understanding that his work would not go uncompensated, [Keith] Knee analyzed and provided strategic advice to CSSE concerning the integration of Redbox's lines of business," Todd Spangler writes.

🎬 The strikes are over, but Hollywood isn't back to normal (Bloomberg)

"Grandview is working with the investment bank LionTree and Range Media Partners has been in fundraising talks for months. Movement on either front would be a sign of progress. For many of these companies, there hasn't been a normal year since 2019," Lucas Shaw reports.

5. Channel surfing

Illustration of a surfer with a television in the place of his head.

🗞️ Situational awareness: New York lawmakers approved $90 million worth of payroll tax credits in the state's fiscal year 2025 budget to hire local journalists, Sara Fischer writes.

@tim_bays: "Franklin" on Apple TV+. Ben Franklin had to spent 8 years in Paris and Versailles to get France on board with the Revolutionary War? Nice work if you can get it.

@kerrymflynn: "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" by Taylor Swift. My favorite "TTPS" song after intently listening to the album while running 19.3 miles this past weekend. 

✏️ Thanks to Michael Flaherty for editing and Jay Bennett for copy editing this newsletter.

Thank you for reading Axios Pro Media Deals! Please ask your friends, colleagues and Adam Silver to sign up.

April 22, 2024

1 big thing: Open season