• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

Could sports rights fees -- against all logic -- see a decline in the coming months?

There is a slight possibility. But the trend is still an overall upswing.

One seemingly narrow trend arises from the NBA contracts. The league’s long-term contracts will end in a couple of weeks, following the conclusion of the playoffs and the championship series.

Then, rising sports fees will begin to flow again in the fall. This will begin in October, when the new 11-year deals start up again -- some with new players NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video.

The NBA’s 11-year deals -- valued at $76 billion and struck last year -- come just after the NFL's 11-year deal, valued at $110 billion and completed in 2023. Both have seen sharp increases compared to previous, respective contracts.

But going forward -- perhaps starting now and continuing through a five-year outlook -- we could see a different trend, and one with fewer potential buyers.

Under financial stress, legacy TV-network focused media companies could see a consolidation in the coming years -- which will result in fewer players bidding on sports deals of all types.

For example, major media companies like Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery are considering spinoffs -- even outright sales -- of their traditional TV networks, according to analysts.

Some believe this could result in possible mergers of these businesses. This might also include that of Versant, a spinoff of Comcast’s cable TV network including USA Network, MSNBC, CNBC, E!, and Golf Channel.

One major deal from the selling side could be for Major League Baseball -- with a new sports TV/streaming deal -- from at least one of its partners.

ESPN and the league have agreed that the big sports cable network can get out of its last contract a year after the current season is completed.

ESPN has seen much thinner profit margins with baseball content.

There have been much sharper financial declines, with regional sports networks (RSNs) that have carried baseball -- including the biggest RSN, Diamond Sports Group, owned by Sinclair Inc, which has been in bankruptcy protections since 2023 due to cord-cutting pay TV issues.

NBCU is, according to reports, considering buying ESPN’s piece of its MLB media deal. But knowing ESPN fairly public reasoning in abandoning the league, it could be in a great bargaining position going forward.

Is this a tip of the sports iceberg? And will cord-cutting look to have all types of current media partners asking for financial relief?