CBS, Warner Sports Execs Sound Tepid Note on March Madness Expansion

Sometimes, more good thing can’t be good.

NCAA’s annual – and popular and profitable – with the launch of the March madness men’s basketball tournament just before the day passed, Paramount Global’s CBS Sports and Warner Bruce’s top executives, Werner Bruce’s TNT Sports, felt the ability to participate in future editions.

“No one wants to do anything that will have a negative impact on the tournament, and focuses on the same place,” said David Berson, president and CEO of CBS Sports in remarks on Tuesday.

And yet, he acknowledged that media companies and NCAAs have been discussed about whether such actions will be in the best interests of fans, sports and sports. CBS and TNT, TBS and TRTV have participated in the custody of the NCAA March Madness Tournament since 2011. Companies will continue to contract this property rights through 2032 in a $ 8.8 billion deal, which was signed in 2016.

In an interview with CBS Sports at the end of FebruaryDan Gote, Senior Vice President of NCAA Basketball, warned that when committees are studying the possibility of increasing the incident, “this is certainly no use. Not Expand the tournament here is a completely possible result in the short term.

And still, if there was a moment when expansion could mean, it would now be. Sports are viewed as one of the few properties that can simultaneously continue to win viewers who continue to persuade advertisers and distributors during the streaming period. Since one-time TV viewers turn into the use of streaming services, they are watching the program rapidly in their selection moments, making it difficult to throw a huge crowd-and it is more difficult to maintain media business economics.

Nevertheless, there is concern that long tournaments cannot like engagement executives. Adding more teams can mean that starting the madness of March has become commonplace. This will require additional shifts in programming schedules, production staff and on -air sports teams.

“If this is something that is understood for fans and tournaments,” said Louis Silber Wasser, CEO of TNT Sports.