Dallas Cowboys linebacker and three-time Pro Bowl selection Micah Parsons has agreed to a multi-year contract extension with Bleacher Report, through which he will contribute to a variety of projects across sports and entertainment. The new deal has also made Parsons the president of B/R Gridiron and ensures that he will continue to host his show, The Edge with Micah Parsons, which returns for the NFL preseason in August.

Parsons is the first current professional athlete with a leadership title at a sports media company and will work to compile content strategy for the brand. Moreover, part of his role will include launching new shows and original content, along with designing merchandise for the 2.5 million cross-platform followers it has attained.

“Working with Bleacher Report on The Edge has given me the desire to want to share my view of the game even more,” Parsons said in a statement. “Being able to create something dynamic for fans alongside a content team like B/R Gridiron, is a chance for me to flex different muscles than the ones I’m using each week on the field, plus it will just be fun.”

Parsons recently served as an analyst on the B/R Gridiron Draft Night Show that had a 27% increase in viewership, marking the highest boost for any live stream on the Bleacher Report app. The defensive superstar first signed a deal with Bleacher Report in 2023 where he launched The Edge and recently completed its first season, which included guests such as C.J. Stroud, Jordan Love and Stephon Gilmore among others. B/R Gridiron content on social media has over 850 million cross-platform video views and 300 million cross-platform engagements over the last two years, frequently gaining the attention of top stars from around the league.

“As a dominant voice on and off the field, Micah is well positioned to lead B/R Gridiron,” Tyler Price, head of content for Bleacher Report, said in a statement. “We are excited to deepen his engagement with the B/R team and help grow his platform off the field in a different and unique way.”

Bleacher Report has and continues to work with a variety of athletes over the years on original content and programming, some of whom have included Mookie Betts, Von Miller and Travis Hunter. The digital media company was acquired by then-Turner Broadcasting System in August 2012 and is now embedded within the sports portfolio of Warner Bros. Discovery, creating content surrounding the TNT Sports portfolio and other sporting events worldwide.

Fanatics, a company already heavily involved in sports commerce, collectibles as well as betting and gaming, has now entered the content space. Fanatics is partnering with The Pivot podcast which features former NFL players Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder. The show is a weekly sit-down interview with athletes, entertainers and more. Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Hart, Travis Kelce and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson have been some of the guests. The first guest under the new Fanatics partnership will feature Tom Brady.

“We are proud to announce our partnership with Fanatics and officially becoming part of the family,” Clark posted on his X account. “Today marks the day that Fanatics makes its initial push into digital content creation, by striking a new multi-year, exclusive partnership with The Pivot podcast hosted by former NFL stars Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder.

“The Pivot a part of Fanatics is collaborative initiative between our platform, Michael Rubin and all of the Fanatics entities. We would like to thank all of our amazing guests for giving us their time and trusting us to open up and create a locker room vibe we get to share with the world.

“And lastly, to all the viewers, subscribers, media and industry peers, your unconditional support means everything, believing in us from day one and rocking with us all the way through- we promise to keep pivoting and bringing the best content and the conversations you all love to be a part of.”

Fanatics announced last month they would enter the event space with the creation of ‘Fanatics Fest,’ a Comic-Con for sports fans which will take place in New York City August 16-18. The hosts of The Pivot are expected to be on hand as well as sports legends such as Brady, Peyton Manning and Derek Jeter among others.

As the NBA continues its slate of playoff games to determine the next NBA Champion, the league has yet to announce who will be carrying national television games after next year. The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC) and Amazon Prime Video reportedly have frameworks for deals that would be for the league’s “A” and “C” packages, respectively. The widespread belief is that the league has created one more media rights package that is currently being pursued by the incumbent Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast’s NBCUniversal. On the latest edition of his eponymous show, The Bill Simmons Podcast, host Bill Simmons informed listeners that he believes the new television deal is complete.

“One of the funniest things ever is that we are all pretending that the TV deal wasn’t done like a week and a half ago,” Simmons said. “….I think it’s done. I think Warner already lost it, and I don’t know why we’re waiting until after the playoffs. Maybe that’s how they have to do it, but it’s a wrap. NBC’s getting it. I’m just telling you.”

Both NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery are holding Upfront events this week in New York City with no public resolution currently announced. NBCUniversal did not address NBA rights at the event, but NBC Sports president Rick Cordella previously told Barrett Sports Media that the company would look at the league but that it would have to make sense and that it would be “disciplined” when approaching it.

NBCUniversal announced on Monday that it added an NFL regular season game to its slate, along with the Kickoff matchup between the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. The company will also broadcast the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on linear television, through Peacock, its streaming platform and disseminate content through a variety of additional avenues.

According to John Ourand of Puck News, Disney will continue carrying the NBA Finals and one conference final series every year should the new NBA media rights deal come to fruition, reportedly worth approximately $2.6 billion annually over 11 years. Additionally, Amazon would carry weekly regular season games and is reportedly looking to have a Saturday night window as part of its package as well. The company would have the rights to the NBA In-Season Tournament and play-in games for the playoffs, along with some first and second round playoff games.

Amazon would also reportedly have the conference finals every other year, completing a package that would reportedly be worth $1.8 billion per year. NBCUniversal has reportedly bid $2.5 billion a year for rights to the NBA, which would complete a two-and-a-half times increase in the average value of national television media rights should all deals close at the reported figures.