CNBC on Friday featured a discussion on the future of sports and media, with Monumental Sports & Entertainment Owner Ted Leonsis saying the "only thing that consumers seem to be willing to pay for are movies and sporting events." Leonsis said, "The more real-time, the more data. And now there’s big movement to go over-the-top. I think you're going to see an expansion of the pie.” He noted the NBA has signed a “big, big deal” with ESPN and Turner that goes into effect for the '16-17 season, and that "showed the power of real-time sports programming." While acknowledging the NFL is "powerful," Leonsis noted the NBA, NHL and MLB, the "big sports programming areas, have a lot of value to consumers.” He added, "Everyone talks about this cord-cutting phenomenon. That's not the issue. The issue is the people who never get on, they just never sign up. So how are we going to reach them?” Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert said live sports will never be on-demand content, so they are the "last bastion of rights that you want to own to get big audiences at one time in some way.” AOL Founder Steve Case said the Internet “puts some pressure” on traditional media, but it also “made sports more interesting” with things like fantasy leagues. That has “really engaged a whole generation of people in a much more significant way than they were engaged before.” CNBC’s Brian Sullivan said, “The bubble is not in TV. ... I'm worried about stadiums. They’re building these huge billion-dollar stadiums, and to me with a 12-year-old daughter, I don't want to go to a football game. It's too expensive, people use nasty language, drunk.” But Leonsis said of the in-game experience, “This communal feeling and experience that you get can't be replicated by television” (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 10/23).
