WarnerMedia will be the new home of men’s and women’s football games in the United States next year.
In an eight-year deal, which sources say is worth about $ 200 million, all games outside the World Cup and CONCACAF will be streaming to WarnerMedia, HBO Max, while the biggest games will also be broadcast on TNT.
ESPN and Fox used to have these games, but both networks decided not to bid to keep them, according to sources.
The rights to future MLS games are sold separately. Earlier, The Post reported that MLS had held talks with Apple about these matches. MLS’s current agreement with ESPN, Fox and Univision expires after this season.
Fox holds the rights to the Men’s and Women’s World Cups, as well as to the CONCACAF competitions.
For Turner Sports, this is the first deal after Jeff Zucker. Zucker resigned as head of CNN and Turner Sports after opening a consensus relationship with fellow WarnerMedia CEO Alison Golust. Zucker failed to reveal the connection, which is contrary to the company’s policy.
With the merger of WarnerMedia, the parent company of TNT and Discovery, the company now has rights to the NBA, MLB, the men’s basketball tournament NCAA, NHL and football. He is expected to continue negotiating live sports rights.
“It’s more than we always do,” said Lenny Daniels, president of Turner Sports.
Turner held the rights to the Champions League for two years before ceding them to CBS. For football fans, there are various game rights for Peacock, Paramount +, ESPN + and now HBO Max.
During this agreement, Turner will host more than 20 American women’s and men’s football games on HBO Max and TNT. Each game will be in the streaming service, and the biggest ones will be broadcast on TNT.
He will host the qualifications for the World Cup for men and women, but for the 2026 World Cup the men’s team will have an automatic place because he will be one of the hosts of the tournament. These matches are expected to be filled with friendly matches. The deal will also feature matches against Mexico.
The agreement includes the SheBelieves Cup, as well as sending and subsequent matches around the World Cup and the Olympic Games. WarnerMedia is also home to Bleacher Report and believes it can further develop women’s play in the United States. Doug Pearlman of Sports Media Advisors consulted US Soccer about the deal.