The article discusses the rapid sell-out of professional sports inventory, particularly highlighting the NFL's rise to mainstream status in media buying. It contrasts this with a slow-moving traditional upfront marketplace focused on entertainment. Major players like NBC Universal and Amazon are venturing into sports for the first time, capitalizing on their popularity. The increased fervor for sports content is affecting negotiations, with buyers facing high demand and prices, especially for NFL stocks. Overall, while sports are dominating discussions, other areas in entertainment remain sluggish.
"The partners that have a lot of sports and also have entertainment, they're going to force the entertainment conversation as well. They're using sports to their leverage."
"For some of the networks where there is no sports, or there's minimal amount of sports, those conversations are happening a little bit slower, which is not surprising."
"The NFL is the hottest selling content in the upfront this year, followed by the NBA, which is being sold for the first time in decades by NBC Universal and Amazon."
"I've told clients, if you want to add NFL, you're not going to get it. It's just not there. I paid a little more than I expected, but I also saw it was a little bit of a runaway train."
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