# CBS Sports
**CBS Sports** is the sports programming division of [Paramount Skydance](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount-skydance), responsible for sports broadcasts on the CBS Television Network, the [Paramount+](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount) streaming service, [CBS Sports Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/cbs-sports-network), and the 24/7 streaming channels CBS Sports HQ and CBS Sports Golazo Network.[1](https://populartimelines.com/timeline/CBS-Sports/full) • [2](https://www.skydance.com/about/brands/cbs-sports) The division was formed on April 11, 1955 to manage the company's sports broadcasting portfolio.[1](https://populartimelines.com/timeline/CBS-Sports/full)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Corporate status | Sports programming division of Paramount Skydance; formed April 11, 1955[1](https://populartimelines.com/timeline/CBS-Sports/full) |
| Broadcast platforms | CBS Television Network, Paramount+, CBS Sports Network, CBS Sports HQ, CBS Sports Golazo Network[2](https://www.skydance.com/about/brands/cbs-sports) |
| Marquee rights | The NFL on CBS, Big Ten on CBS, March Madness, the Masters, PGA Tour, PGA Championship, UEFA Champions League, NWSL, WNBA[2](https://www.skydance.com/about/brands/cbs-sports) |
| Soccer position | Exclusive English-language U.S. home of every UEFA club competition match; all Serie A matches on Paramount+ through 2026/27[3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-sports/shows/cbs-sports/about/) • [4](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-sports/shows/cbs-sports/releases) |
| Digital properties | CBSSports.com, CBS Sports apps, 247Sports, MaxPreps, CBS Sports fantasy games, SportsLine[5](https://www.cbssports.com/info/aboutus) |
| Leadership | David Berson, president and CEO, succeeded Sean McManus, who retired in April after 27 years[6](https://apnews.com/article/d869d990d7ffef63f5d73ea6d83ca001) |
## Platforms
CBS Sports operates across broadcast television, cable, and streaming. Its marquee events air on the CBS Television Network and stream on Paramount+, while CBS Sports Network serves as the 24-hour cable home of the division, televising live college football and basketball, soccer matches, and studio coverage throughout the year.[2](https://www.skydance.com/about/brands/cbs-sports) • [7](https://www.cbssportsnetwork.com/about-us)
**Streaming channels.** CBS Sports HQ is a 24/7 streaming sports news network offering news, highlights, and analysis, accessible free on connected devices; it launched in February 2018 and is available on CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports apps, Paramount+, Pluto TV, and other platforms.[5](https://www.cbssports.com/info/aboutus) CBS Sports Golazo Network is a free, 24-hour soccer streaming network in the United States, dedicated to domestic and international soccer competitions including UEFA club competitions, [Serie A](https://www.edgepedia.org/serie-a), NWSL, USL, and EFL competitions such as the Carabao Cup.[5](https://www.cbssports.com/info/aboutus)
**Digital properties.** The division's digital offerings include CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports apps for mobile and connected TV devices, the recruiting-focused network 247Sports (founded in 2010), the high school sports site MaxPreps, CBS Sports fantasy games, and SportsLine, a platform for statistical coverage and predictive analysis.[5](https://www.cbssports.com/info/aboutus) • [7](https://www.cbssportsnetwork.com/about-us)
## Broadcast rights portfolio
Available through the CBS Television Network and Paramount+, the lineup covers The NFL on CBS; college football such as the Big Ten on CBS; college basketball such as the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, known as March Madness; golf with the Masters, the [PGA Tour](https://www.edgepedia.org/pga-tour), and the [PGA Championship](https://www.edgepedia.org/pga-championship); soccer with the [UEFA Champions League](https://www.edgepedia.org/uefa-champions-league) and the NWSL; and the WNBA. The UFC streams on Paramount+ with select events airing on CBS.[2](https://www.skydance.com/about/brands/cbs-sports) CBS remains the primary broadcast home of the NFL's AFC package, with the NFC on Fox.[8](https://apnews.com/article/ab91632076e6b50d19544130ea75b7d5)
**College sports.** In 2022, CBS joined Fox and NBC in landing Big Ten media rights worth more than $1 billion annually to the conference, with CBS paying a reported $350 million a year for its package.[9](https://www.axios.com/2022/08/18/big-ten-conference-media-rights-deal) The division also broadcasts the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship on a rotating basis with other networks.[10](https://ir.paramount.com/static-files/357c6440-f534-480a-b0ac-abb13963f070)
**Recent agreements.** CBS Sports and Lega Serie A extended their media rights partnership through the end of the 2026/2027 season, covering 420 matches including all fixtures from Serie A, Coppa Italia, and the [Supercoppa Italiana](https://www.edgepedia.org/supercoppa-italiana), with all 380 Serie A matches streamed live on Paramount+.[4](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-sports/shows/cbs-sports/releases) The division also acquired the English-language U.S. rights to the Barclays Women's Super League, with Paramount+ streaming 183 matches each season from September 2026 through the 2029-30 season, and holds exclusive English-language U.S. rights to all Concacaf women's competitions through 2029-2030, more than 250 games across four competitions.[4](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-sports/shows/cbs-sports/releases) A long-term WNBA agreement features up to 20 regular-season games annually on the CBS Television Network and Paramount+.[11](https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/news/wnba-cbs-sports-new-long-term-agreement-20-regular-season-games-to-air-2026-season/)
## Soccer coverage
CBS Sports is the exclusive English-language home in the United States for every UEFA club competition match, and delivers an extensive soccer lineup on Paramount+ alongside Serie A and Concacaf national team competitions.[3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-sports/shows/cbs-sports/about/) • [7](https://www.cbssportsnetwork.com/about-us) Coverage is split across CBS Sports Network, the free CBS Sports Golazo Network, and Paramount+, where there is a feed for every Champions League game.[12](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/how-to-watch-champions-league)
The division's Champions League presentation has included an alternative broadcast, Beckham & Friends Live, an altcast hosted by [David Beckham](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-beckham) that streamed exclusively on Paramount+ during the 2026 final between Arsenal and PSG in Budapest; CBS Sports delivered 10 hours of live multiplatform coverage of that final across its four main platforms.[4](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-sports/shows/cbs-sports/releases) In women's soccer, the 2025 [NWSL Championship](https://www.edgepedia.org/nwsl-championship) on CBS was the most-watched NWSL match in history, surpassing one million viewers for the first time, and the 2026 championship returned to CBS and Paramount+ in primetime for the fifth straight year.[4](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-sports/shows/cbs-sports/releases)
## Leadership and broadcasters
Sean McManus led CBS Sports for 27 years, serving as president of [CBS News](https://www.edgepedia.org/cbs-news) and CBS Sports from 2005 through 2011 and as CBS Sports Chairman from February 2011, before retiring in April of the year following the announcement; David Berson, who joined CBS Sports in 2011 and had been president since June 2013, was named his successor.[6](https://apnews.com/article/d869d990d7ffef63f5d73ea6d83ca001)
**Announcers.** [Jim Nantz](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-nantz), with CBS Sports for nearly 40 years, called his 500th NFL game in a January 2025 AFC wild-card game; according to CBS records he is the first person in the network's NFL history to work 500 games as a play-by-play announcer.[13](https://apnews.com/article/760c0fe3ea7f0b834ede810e40ea0063) In October 2026, CBS Sports and analyst [Tony Romo](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-romo) mutually parted ways, with JJ Watt remaining on the lead NFL broadcast team alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and sideline reporter [Tracy Wolfson](https://www.edgepedia.org/tracy-wolfson).[14](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/cbs-sports-tony-romo-mutually-part-ways-jj-watt-jim-nantz-tracy-wolfson/)
## History
CBS has carried professional football since the mid-20th century, and the division's modern shape reflects the economics of sports rights. In 1993, the upstart Fox network took domestic rights to football's NFC package from CBS, a loss that contemporaries described as crippling for the network's sports division.[15](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Station-Albums/Networks/Variety-CBS-50-Years-1998-04-23.pdf) In 2005, Viacom, CBS's then-parent company, acquired College Sports Television, the cable channel that became CBS Sports Network; the channel's branding ran as CSTV from 2003 to 2005, CBS College Sports Network from 2008 to 2011, and CBS Sports Network from 2011 onward.[1](https://populartimelines.com/timeline/CBS-Sports/full) • [7](https://www.cbssportsnetwork.com/about-us)
The division's production base includes the CBS Broadcast Center, an 800,000-square-foot television production facility at the northern edge of the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan, which is home to CBS Sports programming among other productions.[16](https://enduser.cbsbroadcastcenter-prod.paramount.com/) Following the merger of Paramount and [Warner Bros. Discovery](https://www.edgepedia.org/warner-bros-discovery) under Skydance, CBS Sports and TNT Sports came under the same corporate umbrella, creating a combined portfolio of premium live sports rights in the United States.[17](https://thedesk.net/2026/10/skydance-cbs-tnt-dominates-sports-tv-rights/)
## References
1. [History of CBS Sports in Timeline, Popular Timelines](https://populartimelines.com/timeline/CBS-Sports/full)
2. [CBS Sports, Skydance](https://www.skydance.com/about/brands/cbs-sports)
3. [CBS Sports | About, Paramount Press Express](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-sports/shows/cbs-sports/about/)
4. [CBS Sports | Releases, Paramount Press Express](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-sports/shows/cbs-sports/releases)
5. [About Us, CBSSports.com](https://www.cbssports.com/info/aboutus)
6. [Sean McManus will retire in April after 27 years leading CBS Sports; David Berson named successor, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/d869d990d7ffef63f5d73ea6d83ca001)
7. [About Us, CBS Sports Network](https://www.cbssportsnetwork.com/about-us)
8. [NFL continues to navigate scheduling puzzle with every game up for bid and more broadcast windows, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/ab91632076e6b50d19544130ea75b7d5)
9. [Big Ten Conference reaches record media rights deal, Axios](https://www.axios.com/2022/08/18/big-ten-conference-media-rights-deal)
10. [CBS Television Network, Paramount investor relations](https://ir.paramount.com/static-files/357c6440-f534-480a-b0ac-abb13963f070)
11. [WNBA, CBS Sports reach long-term media rights deal, CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/news/wnba-cbs-sports-new-long-term-agreement-20-regular-season-games-to-air-2026-season/)
12. [How to watch Champions League 2026/27, FourFourTwo](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/how-to-watch-champions-league)
13. [CBS' Jim Nantz will call his 500th NFL game, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/760c0fe3ea7f0b834ede810e40ea0063)
14. [CBS Sports and Tony Romo mutually part ways, CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/cbs-sports-tony-romo-mutually-part-ways-jj-watt-jim-nantz-tracy-wolfson/)
15. [CBS at 50, Variety (April 23, 1998)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Station-Albums/Networks/Variety-CBS-50-Years-1998-04-23.pdf)
16. [CBS Broadcast Center](https://enduser.cbsbroadcastcenter-prod.paramount.com/)
17. [Skydance dethrones NBC, Versant as largest holder of premium sports rights, TheDesk.net](https://thedesk.net/2026/10/skydance-cbs-tnt-dominates-sports-tv-rights/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Broadcast organizations and stations › Broadcast networks and channel brands › US television networks*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license