NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal *UPDATE -- New Deal Reached*

[YankeeFan]

Gotta hand it to the NFL, the numbers just continue to grow.

The NFL is about to hit pay dirt. Again.

The league is close to renewing TV deals with all of its broadcast partners that will result in massive rights fee increases of more than 60 percent across the board, underscoring the unrivaled strength of NFL programming.

For the first time, each of the broadcast networks will pay an annual average of at least $1 billion for the rights to carry NFL games. The expected windfall from CBS, Fox and NBC will be worth more than a combined $24 billion over the next eight years.

Sources expect the deals extending through the 2021 season to be finalized this month, though a formal announcement may come later. The broadcasters’ current deals end after the 2013 season.

The size and scope of these deals offer further proof of the stunning power of NFL programming, which makes up the highest-rated shows on TV. Looking at the total revenue from the next round of national media deals puts the immense nature of the deals into better context. Combined with ESPN’s annual average of $1.8 billion a year for “Monday Night Football,” DirecTV’s out-of-market “Sunday Ticket” deal, the league’s planned Thursday night game package that it is preparing to shop, Sirius Satellite Radio, Westwood One radio and Verizon’s mobile deal, the NFL could wind up generating close to $7 billion annually in national media revenue starting in 2014. That represents a whopping 64 percent increase over the $4.28 billion that the NFL received from national media before the most recent round of renewals.

In fact, the $7 billion figure is more than the league’s total combined revenue from just a few years ago.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/12/05/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/NFL.aspx

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

There's nothing else good on, the secret of NFL success for over half a century now.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

The NFL has enough power that people will accept listening to Jon Gruden for three hours. That's product loyalty.

I wonder if this contract will include flexing Monday night games as has been advocated. With TV paying that much of the freight, might be worth it to the NFL to screw every team's ticket-holders once every couple of years.

 

[playthrough]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

I hope they don't flex Monday night. For one thing, I think SNF is better on every level and should be treated as such. And I think it does get a little silly to start flexing multiple games late in the season. Heck, just say Week 17 times TBA when you release the schedule.

 

[bigpern23]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

I know DirectTV is paying a boatload for the Sunday ticket package, but the NFL needs to stream every game to mobile devices. They're going to miss out on a ton of revenue if they don't have some provision in the next broadcasting deal to allow streaming to iPads and other mobile devices.

Verizon customers can stream Red Zone right now, but an NFL mobile iPad app streaming all the games would be a direct source of revenue for the league without having to share the profits with a broadcast partner.

 

[MileHigh]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

ESPN previously signed its contract extension and there was no flex scheduling involved.

This contract could produce flex scheduling earlier on Sunday night than now (Week 11). And the NFL can take games away from CBS and Fox so expect a first-half Thursday night package.

It'd be nice if the league scheduled Thursday games for teams coming off a bye.

 

[bigpern23]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

ESPN previously signed its contract extension and there was no flex scheduling involved.

This contract could produce flex scheduling earlier on Sunday night than now (Week 11). And the NFL can take games away from CBS and Fox so expect a first-half Thursday night package.

It'd be nice if the league scheduled Thursday games for teams coming off a bye.

One thing they really need to do with scheduling is not have one team that is coming off a bye or a Thursday night game play against a team coming off a Monday night game. Seems quite unfair to give one team a short week to prepare and their opponent and extra few days or even an extra week.

The Giants and Saints both handled that situation well this week, but it wasn't exactly fair to them.

 

[Stitch]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

I know DirectTV is paying a boatload for the Sunday ticket package, but the NFL needs to stream every game to mobile devices. They're going to miss out on a ton of revenue if they don't have some provision in the next broadcasting deal to allow streaming to iPads and other mobile devices.

Verizon customers can stream Red Zone right now, but an NFL mobile iPad app streaming all the games would be a direct source of revenue for the league without having to share the profits with a broadcast partner.

You can get Sunday Ticket mobile and it's available to anyone who can't get DirecTV. I don't know what DirecTV's process is to check to see if you can't put up a dish, though.

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

Not close enough to the situation, because I don't cover the NFL -- but I wonder if the NFLPA knew this when negotiating the recent CBA. It took less of the percentage, but seemed to believe that the overall revenue numbers would be higher.

This would validate that thinking.

 

[YankeeFan]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

I know DirectTV is paying a boatload for the Sunday ticket package, but the NFL needs to stream every game to mobile devices. They're going to miss out on a ton of revenue if they don't have some provision in the next broadcasting deal to allow streaming to iPads and other mobile devices.

Verizon customers can stream Red Zone right now, but an NFL mobile iPad app streaming all the games would be a direct source of revenue for the league without having to share the profits with a broadcast partner.

You can get Sunday Ticket mobile and it's available to anyone who can't get DirecTV. I don't know what DirecTV's process is to check to see if you can't put up a dish, though.

Don't you need to be able to face your dish south to get service?

I remember that when I moved to Houston, I wanted to get the MLB Extra Innings Package, and screwed up by renting an apartment that faced north.

I wonder if something as simple as that would allow you to get the mobile product. And are they really going to come to your house/apartment to verify?

 

[LongTimeListener]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

Not close enough to the situation, because I don't cover the NFL -- but I wonder if the NFLPA knew this when negotiating the recent CBA. It took less of the percentage, but seemed to believe that the overall revenue numbers would be higher.

This would validate that thinking.

I'm sure they took that into account but I don't know that they would have even needed inside info. It has been pretty well telegraphed that football TV money was going way up. Advertisers love it for two reasons: In the fragmented TV universe, it's about the only programming whose ratings go up; and more important, it's the last thing people watch live, i.e. not skipping through commercials.

 

[NickMordo]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

I hope they don't flex Monday night. For one thing, I think SNF is better on every level and should be treated as such. And I think it does get a little silly to start flexing multiple games late in the season. Heck, just say Week 17 times TBA when you release the schedule.

Agreed. I like the SNF presentation a lot better, just more crisp. And to whoever said the NFL's secret formula is having games on because nothing else is on -- that was genius. The NFL has taken over an entire DAY for many decades.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

Elliotte, your analysis of the NFLPA position in the negotiations is exactly correct. For that matter, it's close to a description of the owners' position, too. The foreknowledge revenues would continue to grow made compromise relatively easy.

 

[bigpern23]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

I know DirectTV is paying a boatload for the Sunday ticket package, but the NFL needs to stream every game to mobile devices. They're going to miss out on a ton of revenue if they don't have some provision in the next broadcasting deal to allow streaming to iPads and other mobile devices.

Verizon customers can stream Red Zone right now, but an NFL mobile iPad app streaming all the games would be a direct source of revenue for the league without having to share the profits with a broadcast partner.

You can get Sunday Ticket mobile and it's available to anyone who can't get DirecTV. I don't know what DirecTV's process is to check to see if you can't put up a dish, though.

I didn't realize that, and it may put a crimp into what I was saying. My point was that the NFL doesn't need DirectTV to broadcast to mobile devices. It doesn't need the satellites or the infrastructure.

They just need someone to design a mobile app that can handle the streaming (and preferably with Red Zone. It can then reap ALL the revenue from the app, rather than sharing it with a broadcast partner.

The reason I brought up DirectTV is that it pays a ****load to have exclusive broadcast rights to the Sunday Ticket package. If the NFL wanted to stream all games to mobile devices, it would likely have to settle for less money from DirecTV (and probably Verizon, which has the Red Zone mobile).

I think with the way streaming video and mobile devices are advancing, it might be worth the risk that more people will put their money toward a mobile ticket package rather satellite or cable feeds.

 

[NickMordo]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

I just found out you can watch Sunday Tickey through your PS3. Of course I find out in Week 13. Dammit.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

I think with the way streaming video and mobile devices are advancing, it might be worth the risk that more people will put their money toward a mobile ticket package rather satellite or cable feeds.

That's a pretty big risk. DirecTV pays $1B a year for exclusivity.

 

[bigpern23]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

I think with the way streaming video and mobile devices are advancing, it might be worth the risk that more people will put their money toward a mobile ticket package rather satellite or cable feeds.

That's a pretty big risk. DirecTV pays $1B a year for exclusivity.

There's a reason they pay that much. Because it's a guaranteed money maker. I'd go so far as to say there's almost no risk to the NFL taking direct control of its web-based broadcasting. It doesn't require all the hardware traditional broadcast media needs, and therefore the overhead is much lower.

I think the NFL will be leaving a huge chunk of money on the table in the next decade if it doesn't take control of its mobile media.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

We shall see. The deal runs until 2014, and I'm sure DirecTV was smart enough to insulate itself until then.

 

[Stitch]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

We shall see. The deal runs until 2014, and I'm sure DirecTV was smart enough to insulate itself until then.

All of the other major leagues have their tablet/mobile rights in house. Who knows what the broadband rights are worth separately, since they've been packaged with Sunday Ticket?

In the past, the NFL only signed with DirecTV because it didn't want to tick off the networks, who didn't like the idea of Sunday Ticket. On the flip side, DirecTV will do everything it can to keep Sunday Ticket, as it's the one of the advantages it has over Dish Network and cable.

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

Re: NFL, Broadcast partners Close to New Deal

I have the NFL app on my ipad and the recent update indicates you can watch the Thursday night game on it