This episode of The Town is brought to you by The Madison, the new original series on Paramount Plus.

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New series streaming March 14th, only on Paramount Plus.

It is Wednesday, March 18th.

We all know how important sports rights have become to the entertainment and media companies.

For the linear TV business, it's basically sports and to a lesser extent news driving audiences and not much else.

For the streaming services looking to lure new subscribers, nothing generates a sign-up better than an exclusive premium sports event.

But where is that tipping point?

The level at which sports rights become so expensive that the traditional outlets can no longer justify the cost, and the streaming players fully take over.

A huge test of this theory is what's going on with the NFL right now.

Because the NBA recently closed new deals worth about $77 billion.

And because of the Skydance deal where they bought Paramount and the change of control provision in CBS's deal for the Sunday afternoon football games,

the NFL has reopened its deal that pays at about $2.1 billion a

year.

Alex Sherman at CNBC recently reported that the negotiations have begun and CBS may end up paying

$3 billion a year for those same football rights, perhaps even in fewer games.

In return, the NFL would eliminate the opt-out clause after the 2029 season,

which is part of an 11-year deal that runs through 2033.

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