Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters talks about the company\u2019s sports strategy; CBS Sports president\/CEO David Berson discusses potential PGA Tour schedule changes; and Clayton Kershaw is reportedly nearing a deal to join NBC MLB coverage. Plus news on ESPN, Rick Rizzs, The CW and Dan Kolko.<\/p>\n
Netflix exec Peters backs monthly \u2018must-see\u2019 sporting events<\/p>\n
Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters told<\/a> Stratechery\u2019s Ben Thompson on \u201cThe Daily Update Interview\u201d that the company\u2019s \u201cworking hypothesis\u201d is that it should aim for at least one \u2018must-see\u2019 event for sports fans per month. With the streamer continuing to pursue an \u2018event\u2019 strategy rather than the acquisition of full-season packages, having a regular schedule of events would presumably reduce churn.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to build a strategic understanding of how sports fit into this live strategy,\u201d Peters said, again restating the streamer\u2019s event approach: \u201c[W]e want to think about it as an event, and, \u2018How do we bring more specialness, if you will, around it?\u2019 Whether it\u2019s adding talent to a football game, let\u2019s say, or creating events that have never existed before,\u201d referring to the free climbing event Netflix carried over the weekend.<\/p>\n Peters, who has worked at Netflix since 2008, has seen its sports portfolio grow to include deals with the NFL, MLB and FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup, plus sports-adjacent properties like the WWE \u2014 which he called \u201ca retention driver.\u201d Netflix also recently aired an event it created with free solo climber Alex Honnold scaling Taipei 101 without safety gear.<\/p>\n Peters also addressed the company\u2019s agreement to purchase streaming and studio assets owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (pending regulatory approval), saying that the company entered the process thinking of itself as builders rather than buyers. When asked about HBO and Netflix existing as one service, Peters did not provide a definitive answer, saying only that the company can make a \u201cwin-win\u201d and a better, lower-priced product for consumers.<\/p>\n Berson talks about potential scarcity concept with PGA Tour<\/p>\n CBS Sports president\/CEO David Bersonappeared to endorse the possibility of a reduced PGA Tour schedule during a conference call this week. Per Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal<\/a>, Berson said that having events of \u201cmore consequence \u2026 featuring the best players in the world playing against each other more often\u201d is an \u2018exciting\u2019 prospect.<\/p>\n The PGA Tour formed a nine-member Future Competitions Committee with guiding principles of \u201cparity, scarcity and simplicity\u201d under PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp. Speaking at a press conference in the Hero World Challenge last month, committee chairman Tiger Woods said his belief that the group would create \u201ca product that is far better than what we have now for everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n CBS Sports holds the broadcast rights to the PGA Tour through 2030 and is debuting a new commentary team this weekend from the Farmers Insurance Open. Longtime host Jim Nantz will be working alongside analysts Trevor Immelman and Colt Knost, the latter of whom is transitioning from being an on-course reporter following the retirement<\/a> of Ian Baker-Finch last August.<\/p>\n Kershaw reportedly nearing deal with NBC<\/p>\n Former Los Angeles Dodgers SP and three-time World Series champion Clayton Kershaw is reportedly nearing a deal to join NBC in a studio role for its baseball coverage, per Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports<\/a>. Kershaw, who retired after 18 seasons in the major leagues, would be the first studio hire for NBC as it prepares to embark on a three-year deal to televise a slate of MLB games. It remains unknown how often Kershaw would appear on the airwaves throughout the regular season and postseason action.<\/p>\n Kershaw is participating in the 2026 World Baseball Classic as a member of Team USA. The three-time Cy Young Award winner does not have any previous experience as an analyst for a broadcast network. Adding Kershaw would continue a trend for NBC Sports in hiring players recently removed from the game, demonstrated in its NBA coverage with contributions from Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Austin Rivers.<\/p>\n NBC Sports announced last week that Bob Costas would be returning to the network as the on-site host of \u201cSunday Night Baseball\u201d coverage. The parameters of a potential role for Kershaw have not yet been revealed, including whether he would do studio and on-site work for the company.<\/p>\n NBC is said to have interest in Anthony Rizzo and Joey Votto for its MLB coverage as well, according to a report earlier this month by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n Plus: ESPN, Rick Rizzs, The CW, Dan Kolko<\/p>\n ESPN will present a 24-hour event on Sunday, Feb. 8 titled \u201cThe Handoff,\u201d officially beginning the countdown to the network\u2019s first Super Bowl next year. Several studio shows will broadcast from various locations in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, including \u201cGet Up,\u201d \u201cFirst Take\u201d and \u201cSuper Bowl Live,\u201d and it will begin with a ceremonial \u201chand off\u201d from Chris Berman to Scott Van Pelt at SoFi Stadium\/Hollywood Park.
\nSeattle Mariners radio play-by-play announcer Rick Rizzs revealed this week that the upcoming 2026 season will be his last as the team\u2019s primary announcer. Rizzs will be broadcasting home games while taking on a reduced schedule of away matchups, but he pledged to be present for all potential postseason games.
\nThe CW Network has reached a media rights deal for The MGM Slam, a knockout singles tennis event played for a $1 million prize on Sunday, March 1 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The event, which was first known as the Netflix Slam, is slated to include longtime tennis broadcasters Ted Robinson and Chris McKendry.
\nDan Kolko will be succeeding Bob Carpenter as the television play-by-play voice of the Washington Nationals, according to a report<\/a> by Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post. Kolko, who has been covering the team for more than a decade, has filled in on play-by-play over the last few seasons and has also called college basketball games for Fox Sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters talks about the company\u2019s sports strategy; CBS Sports president\/CEO David Berson discusses potential PGA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[191662,427,32288,23761,99,1803],"class_list":{"0":"post-436460","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-espn-broadcasters","9":"tag-golf","10":"tag-golf-on-cbs","11":"tag-nfl-on-netflix","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-super-bowl"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}