On Monday’s post-announcement call with analysts, Wiedenfels brought up WBD’s international sports rights. Outside the U.S., WBD remains a contender for rights, with more than 130 million people engaging with WBD’s sports channels. WBD-owned Eurosport is one of the largest sports networks in Europe, and the company has also invested in high-profile European sports in local markets, including the U.K.’s Premier League. But, as Zaz noted back in February, sports remain a negligible driver of engagement and subscriptions on Max—although that doesn’t mean he can ignore them entirely. Part of the strategy for growing the service will be attracting younger viewers, and sports will inevitably play a role. But Zaz will need to find the right mix of big-ticket and niche sports rights. Gen Z, for example, is far more invested in following specific athletes and niche sports than other demographics, per SiriusXM’s annual sports survey report. More than 50 percent of those who consider themselves devoted fans of Big3, Major League Pickleball, and Ice3 (3-on-3 hockey) are between the ages of 25 and 44—and nearly 40 percent of that audience earns more than $100,000 a year, per a 2024 GWI report on niche sports engagement. That’s a not-insignificant demo. Relying on the niche sports that are popular now won’t be enough for Zaz, though: Roughly 43 percent of niche sports fans are already Max subscribers, according to GWI. But there may be opportunities to get in early on rights for fast-growing youth sports, like flag football, lacrosse, and volleyball. After all, more kids playing a sport now likely translates to more viewers down the road, and the current trends are positive. To wit, last year’s NCAA women’s volleyball tournament was the most-consumed ever, with more than 1.3 billion minutes, per ESPN. And Premier Lacrosse League viewership grew 36 percent year over year across ESPN and ABC in 2023. This is an area where Zaslav could compete, but the opportunity is limited and many of these leagues will likely turn to YouTube and its premium partner tier for distribution. But regardless of what Zaz does with Max after the split, he is likely going to want to keep some of TNT’s big-time sports on the platform, which could put Zaz and Gunnar in a strange pickle as they work out their service agreements in preparation for the spin. For instance, consider Turner Sports’ Major League Baseball rights. Zaslav may like having MLB playoff games on Max, but he doesn’t need every MLB game (or even half of them) that airs on TNT. Baseball is a hard sell for streamers—look no further than MLB’s current struggles to find someone to step in and pay the $550 million ESPN was coughing up. But what if Wiedenfels wants to use those exclusive MLB rights to sweeten the pot for a potential merger, perhaps with a company like Comcast’s cable spinoff, Versant? Or he could widen the scope of where the digital rights go by, say, partnering with Netflix—which would be cheaper for Netflix than producing the games on its own, and guarantee it access to the World Series. And even if Gunnar is stuck with Zaz for the duration of the current rights deals, what happens at the next renegotiation? Much of this is educated speculation based on Zaslav’s post-split needs for HBO Max, and Gunnar’s incentives in his new role. They may very well work together, and there may even be aspects of the spinoff that demand it. For what it’s worth, both Gunnar and Zaz have suggested there won’t be any drastic changes in the near future. But naturally, everyone is curious about what happens when the current contracts and partnerships end—does loyalty have a place in a cutthroat environment where the only thing more scarce than good sports rights is attention? Gunnar has been Zaz’s loyal soldier to date, but they’ll be at odds in a world where streamers and cable networks have very different objectives and entirely different balance sheets. This may be one one of the most interesting games within the game to observe as the deal closes next year. After all, Gunnar learned it all from watching Zaz—a guy who sued the NBA after losing his bid.