HOW TO PLAY
Prime Time Sports is a turn-based U.S. sports-media strategy simulation. Lead a broadcaster or sports service through a ten-season planning horizon: acquire rights, build a credible schedule, develop on-air identity, protect distribution and turn attention into a durable business.
Open Prime Time Sports →YOUR OBJECTIVE
National broadcasters have broad reach, production depth and the ability to convert event moments into mass audiences, but their cost structures are heavy. Regional groups win with local relevance, disciplined rights spending and reliable community programming. Streaming services need differentiated properties that acquire and retain subscribers. Specialist services need a focused audience proposition rather than a generic schedule.
The Universe ranks properties by modeled U.S. audience weight. Use it with Broadcaster Profiles to see seasonality, package depth, shared rights, incumbent portfolios and the weekly grids competitors are built to run.
Open talks from the Rights Desk, then set a fee, term, access structure and promotion commitment. A seller considers your bid, rival interest, your credibility, the property’s heat and whether the deal fits your network. A valuable property is still a bad deal when it cannot earn its place on your schedule.
Live rights can only be placed in their active season, permitted day and permitted time. Use a companion channel or Live Hub for genuine clashes where your network has one. The primary feed should feel intentional: live windows, event support, news, analysis, talk, originals and replay should each have a role.
Weekly focus can favor audience growth, profit discipline, streaming conversion, portfolio protection or balance. You may also put a promotion campaign behind one active property. That can raise attention, but costs cash and is most useful when the property has a real audience opportunity.
Advance Week to settle ratings, operating profit, audience satisfaction, rights performance, market movement and contract pressure. Read Signals and the Ratings Report before reacting. A poor week may reveal a bad lead-in, a weak window, competition, insufficient reach or a property that is simply wrong for your business.
PROGRAMMING GRID
RIGHTS PORTFOLIO
Major league and championship packages are designed as season-to-championship commitments. Winning a culminating event should normally require a credible full-season relationship. Smaller, regional, college and development properties can be shared, but the package scope still determines where the content is useful.
Some tentpoles occur only in designated years. Global football tournaments, Olympic Games, international championships and other event-cycle properties are dormant between editions. They can be strategically powerful, but they should never be your only reason for a sustainable year-round schedule. After the final week of the ten-season horizon resolves, the campaign locks its final reports; export the save to preserve the result or begin a new mandate.
Before bidding, check audience fit, active dates, permitted windows, event duration, exclusivity, current holder, market heat, rival interest, annual fee and the role the package would play on your primary and overflow feeds.
WHAT DRIVES RATINGS
Core, casual, local, star-driven, younger, prestige and international audiences respond differently to the same event.
Football, golf, racing, imported soccer, combat and tournament sessions each have their own natural viewing windows.
Playoffs, championship weeks, tentpoles, star matchups and close competitive drama lift a live window above its baseline.
Production, promotion, distribution, lead-in, postgame support, talent and the competing schedule all shape the result.
A STRONG FIRST MONTH
Review cash, debt, reach, subscribers, reputation, production, carriage, active contracts and the expiry risk in your portfolio.
It creates a valid starting grid around the current live calendar, daypart-appropriate studio blocks, event shoulders, replay rotation, paid programming and any companion feeds.
Put your best live rights in their strongest permitted slots. Then make the hour before and after them feel connected.
Cash that looks available today may be needed when a foundational contract nears expiry. Do not overpay for a property that creates a future cliff.
SAVES
The game autosaves in your browser. Export Save before changing browsers, devices or major strategy. Import Save restores a compatible campaign and refreshes the schedule where the property calendar or feed structure requires it.