1. At the very beginning of this week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina, taped on Wednesday, I asked Puck’s John Ourand about what was going on with Netflix and Paramount bidding for Warner Brothers Discovery. And then late Thursday afternoon, it was announced that Netflix was out and Paramount would purchase Warner Brothers Discovery.
This gives Paramount-WBD a massive portfolio of sports properties that will soon be under one umbrella when the deal officially goes through.
What a combined #Paramount-#WarnerBrosDiscovery sports portfolio would look like
— Jake Kline (@JakeAKline) February 27, 2026
NFL
MLB
NHL
College Football - CFP, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12, MWC
College Basketball, March Madness
PGA TOUR, The Masters
NASCAR
UCL, USMNT, USWNT, NWSL, USL
UFC
Roland Garros
PBR
Giro d’Italia
AEW
What does this mean for sports fans? How will this impact your sports viewing? Nobody knows yet.
However, this is the perfect time to engage in some fantasy booking, as they call it in the pro wrestling world, and throw out sports media scenarios we’d love to see when Paramount and WBD become one.
• Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaq are still WBD employees despite Inside the NBA airing on ESPN, so the possibilities are endless here. Let’s start with CBS giving Barkley a weekly betting segment on the NFL Today. Everyone knows Sir Charles likes to place a wager and who could give an NFL pregame show a jolt more than Barkley?
• TNT’s Paul Bissonnette should join the Masters coverage on CBS. The man known as BizNasty has done plenty of golf content for Barstool Sports. There isn’t an event in all of sports that could use an energetic outsider to come in and spice things up. Imagine a pairing of Jim Nantz and Biz for a couple of hours of Masters coverage? That Odd Couple formula could work out tremendously from an entertainment standpoint.
• CBS’s J.J. Watt should be used on TNT’s NHL coverage. Watt has said in the past that hockey was his first love.
Watt showed a refreshing enthusiasm in the NFL booth during his first year in the booth last season. His energy and star power would only be a plus on NHL coverage.
• CBS’s Andrew Catalon should call some MLB games for TBS. Catalon is behind Jim Nantz, Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan on CBS’s NFL roster, so it would be great to see him in the spotlight. We have no idea if Catalon has any experience calling baseball, but here’s what we know. Catalon is often saddled with a subpar game on Sunday afternoons, but he always makes them thrilling because of his energy and strong voice. Catalon calling a walk-off homer would be pure electric.
• MJF is AEW’s most popular and entertaining wrestler, by far. He might not be a household name because he doesn’t have the WWE PR machine behind him, but if CBS was smart, they’d figure out a way to use MJF on any of its sports coverage. The WWE’s Seth Rollins should be the model here. Rollins is a cast member on Good Morning Football and did more interviews during Super Bowl week than any other human being. CBS should use MJF in a similar fashion. Granted, Rollins knows football and we don’t know if MJF has any sports expertise. But, in this day and age, you don’t need expertise. You just need to be able to create content. MJF can do that in his sleep.
2. In NBC’s continued thirst for nostalgia when it comes to the NBA, we will now get a throwback broadcast on March 3 when the Spurs visit the Sixers.
The game will be called by Bob Costas, Doug Collins and Mike Fratello with Jim Gray working the sidelines. Hannah Storm, Isiah Thomas and P.J. Carlesimo will handle studio duties.
One person missing from this throwback crew that worked together for so many years in the ‘90s is insider Peter Vecsey, who let everyone know via social media that he doesn’t appreciate being snubbed.
WOW!! That’s complete disrespect!!
— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) February 26, 2026
Fixture is correct. Three of us were on air all 12 seasons—Marv, Costas & moi…
— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) February 27, 2026
3. We told you on Thursday that NBC would likely be parting ways with Tony Dungy on Football Night in America. Awful Announcing is reporting that Rodney Harrison and Jac Collinsworth are also expected to be out as the show undergoes a full revamp.
More changes could be coming to "Football Night in America" after Tony Dungy is reportedly on the way out.https://t.co/jjXYmqTJ1N
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 27, 2026
4. Last week the NFL announced that the NFLPA report cards for each team wouldn’t be made public. On Thursday, ESPN released those very report cards for each team.
We always thought F was the lowest grade anyone could get, but several teams pulled an F- in some categories. The Bengals got an F- in TWO categories: Treatment of Families and Food/Dining Area.
5. Which of these injuries is more embarassing? I say Giancarlo Stanton’s just for showing how frail he is while making $29 million a year.
Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton “can’t open a bag of chips” due to ongoing pain in elbows, but he’s determined to play full season. https://t.co/yNq5aSadCH
— Randy Miller (@RandyJMiller) February 26, 2026
Matt Waldron has been shut down.
— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) February 24, 2026
Had a procedure for an infection in his “rear end,” according to Padres manager Craig Stammen.
Waldron is “week to week.”
Going to be far more difficult for him to make starting rotation out of camp.
6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with Puck sports media reporter John Ourand.
Ourand explains what’s going on with the NFL television rights deals, which are expected to be reopened later this year. Is there any chance CBS or Fox could lose their Sunday packages? How much more of the pie will streaming services get? Will the NFL diminish Sunday Ticket? Are we going to see more playoff games on streaming platforms?
In addition, Ourand shares his thoughts on what ESPN will do with the NFL Network, the NBA’s new deal with Amazon, where things stand with Fox keeping the World Series and much more.
Following Ourand, Peter Schrager from ESPN fills in for Sal Licata and joins me for the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. Topics covered with Schrager include the nonstop NFL schedule, his best celebrity interaction during Super Bowl week, dealing with the big blizzard that hit the East Coast, a couple of Larry David-esque moments, his iced coffee addiction, television recommendations and more.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple , Spotify or Google . You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram .
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dream Booking the CBS/Turner Sports Media Crossover Possibilities.
