When Venu Sports—the joint venture between Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD), Disney (NYSE:DIS), and Fox (NYSE:FOXA)—first emerged, it represented a potentially major change in how people viewed sports content. But oddly enough, Paramount (PARA) was not offered a seat at that particular table despite its control of CBS Sports. And Paramount proved to be largely unconcerned about the snub. Investors were a bit more concerned, however, sending shares down fractionally in the closing minutes of Monday’s trading.
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Reports from Paramount’s George Cheeks, while speaking at the IMG-RedBird Summit in the UK, noted that Paramount was not “…hurt by not being invited.” Cheeks went on to note that Paramount+ is a “multi-genre offering.” While subscribers do come in for sports, those are a comparative minority. In fact, 90% of subscribers’ time is spent on non-sports activities, so offering several different options—including news and entertainment—along with sports proved a good plan for Paramount.
Besides, as IMG’s Media President Adam Kelly noted, Venu is currently under fire legally. If the Venu partnership is not allowed to proceed, it likely would have been good news for Paramount not to get involved from the outset.
They’re Giving Sports Away Anyway
Moreover, Paramount+ is not exactly in a hurry to make money from sports. After all, it is reportedly planning to offer up several soccer matches free in the United States. This includes European Football League action, along with Champions League, Serie A, and Europa matches. That level of consolidation should make it a gold-standard go-to for soccer fans if nothing else.
Is Paramount a Good Stock to Buy Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on PARA stock based on three Buys, eight Holds, and seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 22.34% loss in its share price over the past year, the average PARA price target of $12.13 per share implies 16.41% upside potential.
