NO. 27 · OCT. 6, 2026
CBS and Tony Romo Part Ways After Nine Seasons
With JJ Watt holding the lead NFL chair for the rest of the season, the real question at CBS is what a $17 million-a-year booth seat is worth now. ~$17M July BS Sports and Tony Romo have parted ways after nine seasons. The network said on Oct. 2 that it and Romo had “mutually agreed to part ways,” ending his run as its lead NFL analyst, according to Deadline. Romo had been on leave since July, when he was arrested in Milwaukee on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. JJ Watt, who moved into the booth in his place, will stay alongside Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson for the rest of the season. Romo said he will take a break to focus on his health and his family before his next opportunity. Start with the money, because that’s where this story changes the business. Variety notes that Romo’s 2020 contract extension was valued at around $17 million a year. A contract of that size is a statement that the voice in the booth can be worth as much as a star player. That is the scale of the commitment now leaving CBS’s books. Now that contract is off the books, and the timing matters. Variety notes that the opening comes as CBS’s parent company heads into its merger with Warner Bros. carrying billions of dollars in debt. That is a company about to be very focused on its costs. So the question for CBS isn’t only who sits next to Jim Nantz. It’s what that chair is worth now. JJ Watt has the job for the rest of this season, and that gives him months of the biggest games on the schedule to make his case. Whatever CBS decides about the chair long term, Watt now has the most valuable kind of audition in sports broadcasting: one conducted live, on the network’s top games, week after week. The wording of the split matters, too. The network didn’t say it fired him, and Romo didn’t say he quit. “Mutually agreed” is the phrase both sides chose, and both statements are careful. Romo, for his part, is leaving the door open to a next opportunity. The episode fits a broader pattern in the business. Across sports, the owners of something valuable — a view, a data feed, a season of events, a seat in the booth — are choosing more carefully who gets to use it, and on what terms. At CBS, a $17 million-a-year chair has changed hands, and the network now gets to decide what that voice is worth. That decision will be made in a different environment from the one that produced Romo’s deal in 2020. The parent company is preparing for a merger and carrying billions in debt. Watt, meanwhile, has the rest of the season to show that the chair is worth paying for — and to set the terms of whatever comes next. So the question for CBS isn’t only who sits next to Jim Nantz. It’s what that chair is worth now.
By Nick Schupak · The Periodical, Issue 01 · p. 90
THE REST OF THE BRIEF
MEDIA
Nine Takes Australian Athletics Free-to-Air Through Brisbane 2032 Australian Athletics signed a
seven-year deal with Nine covering 2027 through 2033, announced during the NRL Grand Final. Every live hour of the domestic events in the deal, including the Maurie Plant Meet and the national championships, will air free on Channel 9 and 9Now, with preview shows and feature-length documentaries for the 2028 and 2032 Olympic years. Built around a home Olympics, the deal gives Nine six years to introduce viewers to Brisbane’s potential medalists.
Partnerships
Westfield Moves Onto the Front of the Wanderers’ Shirt Westfield, owned by Scentre Group, is extending with the Western Sydney Wanderers for
two years and stepping up to co-major partner, with its name on the front of the men’s home shirt for one season. By the end of the term the relationship will have lasted 16 years, making Westfield the club’s longest-serving partner. The deal ties in five Westfield centers that draw more than 92 million visits a year — a sponsor bringing an audience of its own.
Advertising
NHL Pulls “Hot for Hockey” Romance Audio After a Week Front Office Sports reports the NHL had hockey romance
authors turn real league news into 30-to 90-second audio stories. Seven installments, featuring players including Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, ran on Spotify, drew a negative reaction on social media and averaged 2.4 stars before removal. The league says it was always a one-week campaign; Sports Business Journal had reported it would run all season.
Fans writing stories feels like community; a league doing it felt like marketing.
Technology
Sofascore Gets the NHL’s Puck and Player Tracking Data Sports Video Group reports a
multi-year global partnership brings shot maps, a live “Offensive Intensity” metric, attack zones and expected-goals models, including one built for goalies, to the Sofascore app this season. The features run on NHL EDGE, the league’s positional tracking data, with Sportradar supplying data support. Tracking data that once lived mostly inside teams now reaches an app fans worldwide already use — helping newer fans see what longtime fans feel.
DEALS SHEET
4Moves
Investors → New York Islanders $3B valuation
Minority stake of about 15%, one buyer up to 10%, at a $3B valuation; pending NHL approval Nine → Australian Athletics Undisclosed Free-to-air rights for seven years, 2027–2033 Sofascore → NHL Undisclosed Multi-year global stats and analytics partnership Westfield → Western Sydney Wanderers Undisclosed Two-year deal as co-major partner
W ORK THAT WON
Victory. But First, Protein.
MAPLE LEAF FOODS / CANADIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE · SMA SPONSORSHIP
EXCELLENCE AWARDS — BEST IN SHOW, SPORTS
At the Sponsorship Marketing Association’s awards in Nashville, where the Winter Olympics dominated, this campaign marked Maple Leaf Foods’ Olympic debut as Team Canada’s official protein partner. It was built around athlete storytelling rather than a logo. Park City Mountain activation, 2026 Winter Games
MICHELOB ULTRA · SMA SPONSORSHIP EXCELLENCE AWARDS — BEST IN SHOW,
EVENTS AND VENUES
Michelob Ultra turned Park City Mountain into a Team USA celebration during the 2026 Games, with exhibits of Olympic artifacts, watch parties and a concert by Kygo at the summit. At the same awards, Athletic Brewing was named Sponsor of the Year and Momentum was named Agency of the Year.
OFF THE RADAR
Judge Rules a Wrigley Rooftop Can’t Sell the View of a Cubs Game ESPN reports that Wrigley View Rooftop shared ticket revenue with the Cubs under a deal that ran from 2004 to 2024. When it lapsed, the business kept selling tickets, and the team sued. U.S.
District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman found the rooftop profited from Cubs games “without contributing financially” to them. The owner can appeal, negotiate a new revenue share or stop selling on game days. Even the view from someone else’s roof belongs to the team.
THE THROUGHLINE
Somebody owns something valuable — a view, a data feed, a seat in the booth, a season of events — and is choosing more carefully who gets to use it. The one thing a league can’t fully own is how its fans feel.