NFL Netflix games, Nike & Kim Kardashian collab: Sports Report

It has been a jam-packed week in the world of sports business news. Netflix (NFLX) has expressed interest in taking the NFL rights to Sunday afternoon games, Nike (NKE) has partnered with Kim Kardashian’s Skims, ESPN has ended its broadcasting deal with the MLB, and so much more. This week on Yahoo Finance Sports Report, host Joe Pompliano takes a look at some of this week’s biggest headlines in the sports business world that you and your portfolio need to know. US infrastructure not ready for 2026 World Cup, 2028 Olympics Last week, the US Travel Association, a nonprofit organization that represents the travel industry - released a report saying the US air travel system is not properly equipped to handle the impending surge in travel tourism coming to the country in the next few years. Between the 2026 FIFA World Cup, 2028 Summer Olympics, and even America’s 250th birthday in 2026, an estimated 40 million people may visit the United States. If the White House does not get involved and implement reforms to improve infrastructure and technology, the country could face threats to national security, lose millions of visitors, and thus millions of dollars in visitor spending. Netflix expresses interest in taking Sunday afternoon NFL games from CBS and Fox Following Netflix’s successful streaming of the 2024 NFL Christmas Day games, which drew in 26.5 million average viewers, the streamer is looking to add more NFL to their roster. Netflix is reportedly looking to acquire one of the NFL’s Sunday afternoon games from CBS or Fox (FOX) if the media rights go back on the market. The NFL’s current media rights deal runs through 2033, but the NFL can choose to opt out of them in 2029. While breaking this down, Pompliano also expresses his concerns about CBS’s current media rights deal due to the network’s parent company Paramount’s (PARA) impending merger with Skydance. Nike and Skims partnership fuels $6.7 billion in market value to the athleticwear brand. Nike announced it is partnering with Kim Kardashian’s shapewear line Skims to release a new line of women’s athleticwear to be released this spring domestically and will roll out globally in 2026. Following the news of the “NikeSkims” collaboration, Nike’s stock jumped 6.2% on the day of the announcement, adding $6.7 billion in market capitalization for the company. This marks the first time in Nike’s history where the brand is working with an outside partner on a new brand offering. Breaking down ESPN’s break up with the MLB In this week’s Deeper Dive, Pompliano takes a closer look at ESPN and the MLB and why they chose to end their broadcasting deal after working together for 35 years. Though the deal was set to run through 2028, ESPN will finish out its contract in 2025 and the final three years will be voided. Plus, American Chess Grandmaster and the world’s #1 chess streamer Hikaru Nakamura, stops by the show to talk about the massive growth of chess over the years and its explosion as a digital product. Yahoo Finance Sports Report with Joe Pompliano, a vodcast brought to you by Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Sports, looks beyond the latest sports business headlines, analyzes all the need-to-know news - the teams, trades, and billion dollar deals - so you and your portfolio will win BIG. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at [email protected] Yahoo Finance Sports Report is developed and produced by Lauren Pokedoff.