As big media companies work through the next costly and competitive contract cycle with the NFL, it leaves room for newly independent Versant to nab rights to other leagues as they come up, said CEO Mark Lazarus on a Versant earnings call Thursday.
“I do believe that that will put pressure on those companies that retain or grow their NFL expense to make decisions on other content, and that we will selectively look at contracts,” he said in response to a question. “If you look at who the next groups of leagues that come up are, you know, whether it’s baseball, hockey, soccer or Premier League, there’s a variety of content coming.”
“What I would just express is that we are well positioned. Since we’ve announced our spin, we extended our USGA [United States Golf Association] contract. We’ve extended our PGA of America Ryder Cup contract. We expanded our WNBA relationship. We have done a deal and have now completed our first season of League One women’s volleyball. [And] there will continue to be opportunity for us to build upon our sports,” he said, noted Versant’s growing momentum in women’s sports.
“Our first season of League One volleyball on USA Network was a breakout success with the most watched match in league history. We are also proud to have just kicked off our inaugural WNBA season this past Sunday with our opening game and a double header just last night,” he said.
Versant’s first quarter numbers and commentary since splitting from Comcast/NBCUniversal were a hit with investors. Revenue and earnings fell but less than expected at the evolving new company that houses linear cable channels formerly under NBCU from Golf Channel to CNBC to MS NOW (former MSNBC) to USA Networks to E!. It has a growing and adjacent Platforms division and a profitable content licensing business.
It’s a somewhat complicated story for Wall Street, which generally likes simplicity. But investors drove the shares a whopping 11% higher earlier today before they settled, now up about 3% at $41.69.
Versant’s revenue eased 1% to $1.7 billion on lower linear distribution and softer advertising sales as subscriber losses continued — partially offset by contractual rate increases and growth in Platforms led by Fandango and Golf Now.
Content licensing revenue more than doubled to $121 million on a large multi-year agreement for Keeping Up With The Kardashians and other titles recognized in the current quarter. Lazarus said content licensing contributions fluctuate due to timing but it’s a good margin business for Versant.
Overall, he called the three months ended in March a milestone and a strong start to the year.
Programming highlights Versant noted included the Milan Cortina Olympics on USA Network and CNBC; E!’s Live From The Red Carpet at the Oscars, the Grammys and the Critics Choice Awards; MS NOW’s most-watched quarter since 2024 with double-digit growth in total day and prime-time viewers across key demos; CNBC’s largest tune-in for the World Economic Forum in Davos in five years; and Golf Channel’s strong early-season engagement as the PGA Tour kicked off, drawing its largest audience for The Players Championship in two decades and reaching 13.5 million unique viewers during Masters week.
Revenue at Platforms, including GolfNow as well as movie ticketing service Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, rose 9.5% to $192 million. GolfNow is growing and offers tee time bookings and payment processing. GolfPass — boosted by a partnership with Rory McIlroy — grew subscribers in the first quarter. The golf business “is a clear example of how we are integrating content, commerce and consumer engagement within a single ecosystem,” Lazarus said.
Less clear is what the new MS Now service will look like. It’s coming. He said pricing hasn’t been set yet. He called it a direct-to-consumer, subscription-based service around the channel’s content and a “build out, in the sense of community and mindfulness. It will be a much broader service than what we provide today, bringing together voices that are both on our air and not necessarily on our air today.”
A Fandango AVOD service is also on the way, free with advertising, and serving content guided by the data and information from current Fandango users.
Versant’s total net income dipped 22% to $286 million in part on higher public company costs and interest expense following the separation from Comcast in January.
Adjusted ebitda (earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization) rose 5% to $704 million. Versant reported free cash flow of $558 million and said net cash provided by operating activities was $585 million.
The company also declared its second quarterly cash dividend of 37 cents a share and announced a planned $100 million accelerated share repurchase transaction. It returned $100 million to shareholders last quarter.
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