Paramount Clears Final $110B Merger Hurdle

Media giant Paramount settled with US states, removing the final legal hurdle to its $110B purchase of TNT Sports owner Warner Bros Discovery.

To keep networks like CNN, Paramount agreed to create independent editorial boards and boost US film production spending by $1.5B over five years.

The approved merger combines CBS Sports and TNT Sports into a massive television powerhouse controlling media rights for most major American sports.

Business magazine Forbes published its list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, which includes 45 majority owners of professional sports teams.

Steve Ballmer, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, is the ninth-richest American overall with a net worth of $156B.

Rob Walton, owner of the Denver Broncos football team, also reached the top 15 by ranking eleventh with a $132B fortune.

The season-opening game between the Lions and Bills averaged 18.6M viewers, a 5% increase from last year.

Streaming rival Netflix averaged slightly fewer viewers at 18.5M for its international football game last week.

This marks the most-watched Thursday premiere since 2015, following a broader trend of growing prime-time NFL viewership.

Across all 211 national football associations, the payments would total $2.1B from 2027 to 2030, on top of $8M each already planned.

UEFA and CONCACAF, football's governing bodies in Europe and North America, say FIFA's projected $6B in reserves far exceeds its needs through 2030.

They question whether FIFA President Gianni Infantino's scrapped private investor deal was needed to fund football, adding pressure before his March 2027 re-election bid.

The Giants' John Harbaugh and Broncos' Sean Payton now earn about $20M a year, joining Chiefs coach Andy Reid as America's highest-paid sports coaches.

The Rams' Sean McVay and 49ers' Kyle Shanahan, seen as top offensive strategists, each earned a new deal worth roughly $19M a year.

Pay is also rising below the top five, with $14M a year now needed to make the top 10, up from $9M in 2023.

Researchers at Bristol and Oxford universities found brands like Coca-Cola and McDonald's made up over 70% of stadium branding, appearing almost 66K times.

Logos from unhealthy food, alcohol and gambling firms were visible for a combined 39.3 hours, almost a quarter of all live play.

FIFA sponsor Betano, a Malta-based betting firm, is licensed in about 20 countries, yet its logos reached viewers in over 220 territories.