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ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. teaming up to create a new sports streaming service
ESPN, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery said on Tuesday they are joining forces to launch a streaming sports service.
The platform will include offerings from at least 15 networks and all four major professional sports leagues. The paid service is scheduled to debut this fall via a new app, although subscribers will be able to bundle it with Disney+, Hulu and Max, according to a statement from Warner Bros. Discovery.
Each company will own a one-third stake in the joint venture, the statement said.
The plans come amid increased competition in the business of streaming sporting events, with industry giants including Amazon and Netflix recently striking deals to add sports content for their streaming customers. In announcing the new venture, Walt Disney-owned ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. said the new platform would provide access to thousands of high-profile sporting events, from NFL games to Formula 1 racing.
With viewers’ attentions split between TV, cable, streaming services and social media platforms, sports programming remains a draw, experts note.
“Sports rights remain the only investment that guarantees a steady supply of must-see content and will therefore likely remain a key part of any streamer’s growth strategy,” analysts with investment advisory firm MoffettNathanson Research said in a recent report.
The new platform will include games from the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, WNBA, NASCAR and college sports, including the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball Tournament, as well as golf, tennis and the FIFA World Cup. It will include offerings from 15 TV and cable networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network, TNT, TBS and truTV.
“The launch of this new streaming sports service is a significant moment for Disney and ESPN, a major win for sports fans and an important step forward for the media business,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. “This means the full suite of ESPN channels will be available to consumers alongside the sports programming of other industry leaders as part of a differentiated sports-centric service.”
The announcement of the bundle also comes as ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery are preparing to enter negotiations to renew their NBA rights, which expire at the end of next season. ESPN has also been searching for strategic partners as it prepares to launch a direct-to-consumer product in the next year or two.
The companies said that more details would be released later, including pricing.
—With reporting by the Associated Press.
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There were no injuries after a Southwest flight carrying passengers was struck by gunfire on the tarmac of Dallas Love Field Friday night, authorities said.
Southwest Airlines Flight 2494 was preparing for departure to Indianapolis when “a bullet apparently struck the right side of the aircraft under the flight deck,” a Southwest spokesperson told CBS News in a statement.
The airline said no one was hurt. A spokesperson for Dallas Love Field said in an email that the aircraft returned to its gate after sustaining damage from a “security incident” and the passengers deplaned. The runway was also temporarily closed, but has since reopened.
Dallas police confirmed the incident, saying that officers responded to reports of gunfire at 9:48 p.m. local time, arriving to find that the aircraft had been struck.
No further details were provided on the circumstances of the incident or what was the potential source of the gunfire. It’s unclear how many people were aboard the jet at the time, or how much damage the aircraft sustained.
In its own statement provided to CBS News, the Federal Aviation Administration said that the plane “was reportedly struck by gunfire near the cockpit.”
Dallas police are leading the investigation into the incident.
Earlier this week, gunfire amid ongoing gang violence struck three planes that were either landing or departing Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince. The shootings prompted the FAA to issue a 30-day ban on U.S. airlines flying to Haiti.
Social media star Jake Paul defeated boxing legend Mike Tyson in a highly anticipated fight with an age difference of over three decades between the two contenders. The Friday night win for the YouTuber-turned-pro-boxer was streamed on Netflix from the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Texas.
Paul defeated Tyson by an unanimous decision after the two fighters went eight full rounds.
Fight night for the 58-year-old Tyson and 27-year-old Paul came following doubts over whether it would happen at all. The fight was originally scheduled for July, but was postponed after the former heavyweight champion experienced an ulcer flare-up on a plane in May.
A different kind of flare-up happened during the official weigh-in Thursday with Tyson slapping Paul in the face. Tyson later told the New York Post that Paul had stepped on his toe when the two were toe to toe onstage.
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What is Jake Paul’s fight record?
With the win, Paul’s record improved to 11-1.
Was Jake Paul predicted to win?
Oddsmakers had Paul as the slight favorite to win. Former heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua also went with Paul.
How much prize money does Jake Paul win?
Paul was expected to earn about $40 million from the fight, according to DraftKings Network and other online sources.
Promoters didn’t reveal the payouts ahead of the bout. Paul is a co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, which produced the fight.
Does Mike Tyson still get paid?
Tyson was expected to take home around $20 million for the fight, according to DraftKings and other online reports.
Tyson entered professional boxing in 1985 and became the youngest heavyweight champion in history a year later. After serving time for a rape conviction in the 1990s, Tyson won the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association titles.
He retired from boxing in 2005 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2011. He last fought in a 2020 exhibition match against former four-division world champ Roy Jones Jr.
“He like put on another 20 pounds from when I fought him, so he’s more bigger and he’s more dangerous because more size, more power, so it’s going to be a tough one for Jake to climb,” Jones told CBS News ahead of the fight.
Anne Marie Lee and
contributed to this report.