NFL signs new $110 Billion deal with Networks and Amazon

[Diehardblues]

After the pandemic resulted in a major financial hit for the NFL, the league announced new TV deals with ESPN/ABC, FOX, NBC and Amazon. The new contracts will run through the 2033 season, with the networks paying roughly a combined $110 billion, per the Sports Business Journal.

As part of the deal, Amazon’s streaming service will be the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football, marking the first time in history that the NFL signs a contract with a provider that will exclusively broadcast over-the-top. The deal takes effect for the 2022 campaign. The NFL Network will also air select Thursday matchups throughout the season.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcasts will also be different, beginning with the 2023 season. There will be six Monday doubleheaders each season, with the early game on ESPN followed by the late matchup on ABC.

Amazon’s deal will begin in 2022, while ESPN/ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS’s new packages start in 2023.

The NFL’s current deals brought in a combined $5.9 billion per season. The new contracts will bring in roughly $10 billion a year, meaning we should see a big jump in the salary cap moving forward. This will provide NFL teams with some much-needed flexibility after the cap dropped by roughly 8 percent for next season.

Full story below..
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...th-espn-abc-fox-nbc-andamp-amazon/ar-BB1eJC0J

 

[Diehardblues]

Interesting how the decline in viewership helped the leagues negotiations as they distanced themselves from other live sports and network programming increasing their value to the networks.

They also added additional games being broadcast with ESPN sharing double headers with ABC on Monday nights.

And with the league expected to add a 17th regular season game in addition to their added playoff games with a 7th team in each conference.

Looks like the league not only recovered from this little set back but has set a course on record revenue in the next decade.
Well done Roger Goodell!!

 

[Diehardblues]

The NFL’s massive new TV deal means a spike in the salary cap in the coming years as well. Lucrative deals that have been agreed to this week have a chance to age quite well as teams in future years have much more cap to work with and the price for premium players only goes up.

 

[Creeper]

I read the deal begins for the 2023 season. But I am shocked the networks were willing to pay so much for NFL games considering TV ratings were down significantly over previous years. And this deal does not include AT&T Sunday Ticket revenue which is another $1.5 billion. The NFL wants to renegotiate that deal too. If the NFL is smart they can sell that to multiple streaming services and each paying less than DirecTV and still make more money.

The players get 55% of media revenue so of the additional $4.1 billion annually, the players get $2.225 billion. Divided by 32 teams that is $70 million per team. Not all of that goes to the salary cap though. Some of it is allocated to health care and pensions. But we could still see an enormous bump in the salary cap in 2023.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Further evidence that Dak's cap number will not stop this team from building around him.

 

[Diehardblues]

I read the deal begins for the 2023 season. But I am shocked the networks were willing to pay so much for NFL games considering TV ratings were down significantly over previous years. And this deal does not include AT&T Sunday Ticket revenue which is another $1.5 billion. The NFL wants to renegotiate that deal too. If the NFL is smart they can sell that to multiple streaming services and each paying less than DirecTV and still make more money.

The players get 55% of media revenue so of the additional $4.1 billion annually, the players get $2.225 billion. Divided by 32 teams that is $70 million per team. Not all of that goes to the salary cap though. Some of it is allocated to health care and pensions. But we could still see an enormous bump in the salary cap in 2023.

Rumors are that the Sunday Ticket could go to ESPN plus.

But yea, despite declining TV viewership the league distanced itself from other network programming making it even more valuable to the networks.

 

[Diehardblues]

Further evidence that Dak's cap number will not stop this team from building around him.

Yep..

And also why he was so intent on being able to renegotiate in 3 years without a long term deal.

2024 the year after this new 110 billion deal kicks in is going to be a Windfall for the NFL raising the Cap significantly.

 

[jazzcat22]

So fans will be forced to sign up for Amazon Prime to watch games. other than the "select" games NFLN will air. This is BS. It is not like ST for games outside of your market.

I guess Disney paid the price. Especially if ESPN Plus gets the ST package fro DTV. Then they can have people sign up for their pay per view site, then pay a huge price for ST.

This entire deal is a set back IMO.

 

[Aviano90]

I read the deal begins for the 2023 season. But I am shocked the networks were willing to pay so much for NFL games considering TV ratings were down significantly over previous years. And this deal does not include AT&T Sunday Ticket revenue which is another $1.5 billion. The NFL wants to renegotiate that deal too. If the NFL is smart they can sell that to multiple streaming services and each paying less than DirecTV and still make more money.

The players get 55% of media revenue so of the additional $4.1 billion annually, the players get $2.225 billion. Divided by 32 teams that is $70 million per team. Not all of that goes to the salary cap though. Some of it is allocated to health care and pensions. But we could still see an enormous bump in the salary cap in 2023.

The ratings are down in comparison to their own numbers but it still does very well relative to everything else on TV.

 

[Diehardblues]

The ratings are down in comparison to their own numbers but it still does very well relative to everything else on TV.

Right

And while TV viewership is down across the board the NFL distanced itself from other live sports and network programming enhancing its value.

 

[Diehardblues]

All of those yahoo’s who opposed the NFL stance on Social Distancing hoping a decreased viewership would hurt the league are sorely disappointed with this record deal. Lol

 

[Aviano90]

All of those yahoo’s who opposed the NFL stance on Social Distancing hoping a decreased viewership would hurt the league are sorely disappointed with this record deal. Lol

Well, I wonder how this long term deal impacts Goodell's goal of $25 billion in revenue by 2027? Is there another $15 billion in annual revenue out there to reach that goal?

 

[Diehardblues]

Well, I wonder how this long term deal impacts Goodell's goal of $25 billion in revenue by 2027? Is there another $15 billion in annual revenue out there to reach that goal?

It can’t do anything but help get closer to that lofty goal.

 

[Aviano90]

It can’t do anything but help get closer to that lofty goal.

Agreed there. I'm just going off memory here, but I think they mentioned the revenue was $16 billion before Covid and it dropped to $12 billion because of Covid. Let's assume Covid didn't exist and we keep the revenue at $16 billion as it was and add the increase of $4.3 billion per year for the new TV contract. That would leave them about $4.7 billion of revenue to generate per year in the next 6 years.

 

[Diehardblues]

So fans will be forced to sign up for Amazon Prime to watch games. other than the "select" games NFLN will air. This is BS. It is not like ST for games outside of your market.

I guess Disney paid the price. Especially if ESPN Plus gets the ST package fro DTV. Then they can have people sign up for their pay per view site, then pay a huge price for ST.

This entire deal is a set back IMO.

My understanding is NFLN will still broadcast the games in local market. Within the 75 miles.

But remember NFLN is also a subscribed network as well included in a higher premium package , at least with Direct TV.

This TV deal is tremendous for the NFL. It definitely still promoted Network and Cable TV while bringing in a major streaming affiliate. I think the league deserves much accolades . Especially in a down trodden viewership overall with traditional tv.

 

[Diehardblues]

Agreed there. I'm just going off memory here, but I think they mentioned the revenue was $16 billion before Covid and it dropped to $12 billion because of Covid. Let's assume Covid didn't exist and we keep the revenue at $16 billion as it was and add the increase of $4.3 billion per year for the new TV contract. That would leave them about $4.7 billion of revenue to generate per year in the next 6 years.

Yep

If they rebound to the 16 billion then add in the 4.7 billion that puts them close to 21 billion. I’d say that’s getting much closer to the 25 billion goal which doesn’t include the Sunday Ticket deal.

I’m sure in the next 10 years we’ll also see increased ticket prices , parking, merchandise , etc not to mention stadium sponsorship , fantasy football and potentially the next windfall of casinos and gambling interjected legally.

I can definitely see the league closing the gap closer in the next 10 years to the 25 billion goal.

 

[Creeper]

The ratings are down in comparison to their own numbers but it still does very well relative to everything else on TV.

I understand the NFL is still a huge draw, but networks make money on ads and the value of ad time is based on ratings. If ratings are down you can bet the networks are not going to be able to charge more for TV time than they charged when ads are up. The networks may have gotten too far over their skis on this deal, but we will see. If ratings continue to drop I suspect some network execs will have some "splaining" to do.

Consider the notion that ratings for NFL games were down while the country was partially, or mostly, locked down because of the pandemic. People were stuck in their homes and yet they still did no turn on football games. Should the NFL be worried this will become a trend? Should the networks?

 

[Diehardblues]

I understand the NFL is still a huge draw, but networks make money on ads and the value of ad time is based on ratings. If ratings are down you can bet the networks are not going to be able to charge more for TV time than they charged when ads are up. The networks may have gotten too far over their skis on this deal, but we will see. If ratings continue to drop I suspect some network execs will have some "splaining" to do.

Consider the notion that ratings for NFL games were down while the country was partially, or mostly, locked down because of the pandemic. People were stuck in their homes and yet they still did no turn on football games. Should the NFL be worried this will become a trend? Should the networks?

No, they shouldn’t be worried. Cause if they did turn on their TV it was more likely for the NFL than other programming making them more valuable with declining numbers meaning their dominance grew.

As far as advertising dollars it’s very bad news for any programming not associated with the NFL.

And during the pandemic the only segment that had an increase in viewership was Cable News networks which had incredible increases of 200-300% which totally reflects where Americans focus was.

 

[J-man]

that's a lot of cap space

 

[Bobhaze]

One other thing that helped the NFL in its negotiations was the massive drop in the old school TV network programming apart from live sports. The audience for regular programming on CBS, NBC, and ABC has shrunk massively.

In other words, the old school networks see live sports and the advertising it generates as their only lifeline to long term survival. They were willing to pony up to keep sports fans on their platforms. The alternatives for them were dire.

It’s certainly a big deal for NFL owners as usual. I’m curious to see how this works out for NFL fans.