Facebook Is Backing Away From Paying For Rights Of High-Priced Major Sports

Despite leagues like the NFL and MLB increasingly "looking to non-traditional broadcasters like Twitter, Amazon and Verizon to help reach viewers," Facebook is "backing away from the high-priced market for big-time sports," according to Eben Novy-Williams of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Facebook execs, however, "emphasized that, while the social network may make some strategic investments in 'anchor content,' it is betting on long-form video." Facebook was one of "four finalists for the NFL’s 10-game Thursday night package, and earlier this year considered streaming one MLB game per week." Facebook Founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday said that the company "plans to pay for content by sharing advertising revenue." Traditionally, big leagues have "rejected that model, preferring to simply sell their rights for ever-higher fees." Zuckerberg: "The long-term goal is actually not to be paying for specific content like that" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 5/4).