Discovery Warner Bros. shocked the world of sport in 2022 when the CEO David Zaslav said The company did not “have to” have an agreement with the NBA. Now the company tells investors that it may not want to connect with other leagues as well.
“We no longer need sports in the world to support our own business,” said Zaslav during a call with investors Thursday morning, noting that it was more important for Warner to develop signature films and television properties that it “could own” rather than trying to create a longer -term business depending on the sports offers that end up making more investment and requires increased investments.
“It will become more difficult, some of the prices paid,” said Zaslav.
The remarks come as Warner Bros. Discovery enters the last months of a alliance of several decades with the National Basketball Association. The league’s release should result in the dissipation of tens of millions of dollars in advertising transactions, but will also lower Warner costs.
The reflections of the executive on sports occurred after an analyst asked if the company could be interested in concluding agreements on the rights of certain leagues which broke with the Disney ESPN. This company has paid high fees in recent years for new agreements with the Nba and the NFL, and recently decided to Opt-out of a long-standing association with Major League Baseball. Rights related to Formula 1 races and the UFC should also go to the market.
“We love sport,” said Zaslav, but society sees a need to be disciplined in the transactions that does.
Indeed, Warner has seemed to withdraw his sports ambitions in recent weeks. After the finalization of the loss of the NBA and a plan to launch a streaming joint venture with Disney and Fox failed, Warner said that he would no longer seek To establish a separate premium sport level for its maximum streaming service.
And yet the company has been in recent months has aroused rights on a handful of sports propertiesIncluding the French Open and certain CFP games.
But transactions must earn money, said Zaslav. “We are indeed money on almost all our sports in this company, and we work very hard to build our cash,” he said, and repay the debt.