CBS Sports-TNT Sports merger expected to trigger layoffs in potential ‘bloodbath’ shakeup

The Skydance merger is done — and now the fallout begins.

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are now a single company, meaning CBS Sports and TNT are bringing their complicated web of sports broadcasting rights under one roof, and it’s not going to be pretty.

“Everybody assumes it’s gonna be a bloodbath,” one top sports business executive told Puck’s John Ourand.

CBS comes to the table with the rights to NFL, March Madness, The Masters and UFC, while TNT, in its post-NBA world, holds MLB and NHL rights, ESPN sublicenses for the College Football Playoff and Big 12 football and basketball, in addition to a $650 million deal to carry the French Open through 2034.

“The reality is that Skydance probably has more sports rights than it needs,” LightShed Partners analyst Rich Greenfield told Ourand. “All of the things that TNT Sports was doing to scramble to fill the hole that the NBA left -— Skydance doesn’t need those rights anymore.”

Leadership changes have already begun, with TNT’s head of sports Luis Silberwasser having exited, while CBS’ David Berson ascends to chairman of the Skydance sports group following the $111 billion merger.

“David’s role at first is to be honest with his people, and not hide,” the sports business exec said. “And over the next month or two, the final entity will start to take shape.”

There is expected to be significant downsizing, both in terms of rights — TNT’s annual $700 million worth of MLB and NHL deals expire in 2028 — and staffing, with the sides needing to find $6 billion of promised synergies.

Ourand posits that strategic spending will be key, especially with CBS’ current $2.1 billion NFL rights deal only getting more expensive when they’re up for renewal after the 2029 season. One place Skydance could look is the Premier League in an effort to grow its international audience.

The breadth of merger’s full effect on sports fans will take a while to seen, though some clarity already exists.

“We know two things will happen,” said a source with knowledge of Skydance’s strategy. “Number one, Skydance is going to have to pay the NFL more in a couple years, and it has to cover that added cost somewhere. And number two, Skydance needs to come up with $6 billion of synergies — and a big chunk of that will come from content.”

Buckle up.