Broadcaster Relationships in the NFL
The media and broadcasting business has become a more fruitful endeavor. I questioned why this is, and the answer lies in the new NFL TV deals and the continued growth of streaming services.
Amazon's new exclusive Thursday Night Football package and exclusive NFL games on ESPN Plus have the ability to open up future opportunities for the NFL to grow and make more money than ever before as if that was a real possibility for the most profitable league in the United States, “In 2021, the number of online video subscriptions, or streaming, in the U.S. increased to 353.2 million, up 14 percent from 2020.” (MPA Report Shows Impact Of Streaming With Growth In Subscriptions, Production; Theatrical Box Office Rises But Still Lags Pre-Covid Levels).
There is no denying that streaming services are becoming more popular than cable. This pressure has made broadcast relationships with the league a bigger priority, particularly for linear television networks. The importance of that relationship is evident with the expansion of money being given to the number one broadcasting crew throughout every network in the league.
In 2018, Jonathan Ourand of Sports Business Journal outlined a difficult relationship between the NFL and their long-term Monday Night Football partner ESPN (NFL, ESPN relationship hits a low point - ProFootballTalk).
As highlighted in the report, the NFL was upset by the negative coverage the league was getting across ESPN's major properties including espn.com and outside the lines. ESPN also grew frustrated with the Monday Night Football schedule itself as they viewed it as a lesser package compared to ESPN's other partners FOX, CBS, and NBC added to this frustration was the NFL Network simulcast of the NFL draft that directly competed with ESPN. Three years later in 2022, ESPN seems to be in the best possible relationship with the National Football League headed by their current president Jimmy Pitaro who expressed the importance of the NFL partnership in an interview with Variety (Jimmy Pitaro: ESPN's New President on NFL, Streaming, Politics - Variety).
ESPN was rewarded with the new focus on the partnership with two Super Bowls on ABC beginning in 2026 as well as NFL Draft coverage and a game on ESPN Plus. Perhaps ESPN's biggest move in the football space is the signing of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman from Fox Sports, which the NFL then proceeded to award ESPN with the best Monday Night Football schedule we have seen in a long time this upcoming season. It seems that the number one commentary team does in fact play a huge role in the schedule you obtain.
That concern is something FOX Sports had to figure out as the NFL package looks to be the least attractive going into 2022 and one of the least recognizable commentary teams at least from a casual fan standpoint will broadcast this year's Super Bowl in Kevin Burkhardt and fairly new color broadcaster Greg Olsen who just started a full-time role at Fox after working part-time throughout his football career. Tom Brady will eventually come in to replace Greg Olsen on a 10-year $375 million dollar deal (https://nypost.com/2022/05/10/tom-brady-gets-monster-10-year-375-million-deal-from-fox-sports/.)
When looking at both FOX and ESPN and the deals by Amazon to bring an Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit, The dynamic booth of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo on CBS, and Mike Tirico getting the full-time role on Sunday Night Football with Cris Collinsworth. The money and name recognition in the number-one booth has changed the way we view the broadcasting business forever. The motivating factor of these moves however may not be what you think and has deep-rooted parallels to the struggles ESPN had in 2018.
A major clause in the new NFL television deals is that the deals can be voided by the league at one time depending on the package according to Mike Florio (What NFL TV deals mean for future of live sports | Pro Football Talk | NBC Sports skip to 4:00) and with the advantageous growth of streaming the NFL might want to dip their toe into that even more than they already have. The NFL's relationship with Amazon and the one game at ESPN Plus this season signifies that the league may be willing to get rid of some of these linear television deals a lot quicker if viewership on Amazon and ESPN Plus have similar or even greater numbers than those on linear television.
FOX is a network with no true streaming platform at the moment. Tom Brady's move to FOX looks like a rather panicking move by the network from a broadcasting standpoint as they are not currently evolving with the future of this industry. This panic is not simply just on FOX, CBS will also have similar concerns even with Paramount Plus as a flagship streaming service, and with Netflix losing subscribers at a rapid pace (Survey shows Netflix is losing more long-term subscribers - The Verge).
Another interesting player will enter the mix in Apple TV Plus as they are in active negotiations for the Sunday ticket package (Apple TV Plus could get NFL Sunday Ticket — this is huge | Tom's Guide) which will potentially hurt viewership for FOX and CBS in the Sunday afternoon windows if the pricing is reasonable at Apple similar to how NFL Red Zone has already hurt viewership in these windows. NBC seems to be okay for now even though the Drew Brees loss is potentially more significant for the future of the company than its present.
Overall broadcasting and the role of number one teams will play a bigger role than expected for these 10-year contracts to succeed for broadcasters. The leverage is on the NFL to make a decision on what is best for the company as well as for individual viewers. To evade this concern, the NFL's broadcasting partners are willing to perhaps overpay for these number one teams as they believe they are the key to better schedules and partnerships with the league.
Sources Used
Archive, View Author, et al. “Tom Brady Gets Monster 10-Year, $375 Million Deal from Fox Sports.” New York Post, 10 May 2022, nypost.com/2022/05/10/tom-brady-gets-monster-10-year-375-million-deal-from-fox-sports/.
Florio, Mike. “NFL, ESPN Relationship Hits a Low Point.” ProFootballTalk, 12 Mar. 2018, profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/03/12/nfl-espn-relationship-hits-a-low-point/. Accessed 20 June 2022.
Johnson, Ted. “MPA Report Shows Impact of Streaming with Growth in Subscriptions, Production; Theatrical Box Office Rises but Still Lags Pre-Covid Levels.” Deadline, 14 Mar. 2022, deadline.com/2022/03/streaming-services-mpa-1234977814/.
published, Rory Mellon. “Apple TV plus Could Get NFL Sunday Ticket — This Is Huge.” Tom’s Guide, 19 Apr. 2022, www.tomsguide.com/news/apple-tv-plus-could-become-home-for-nfl-sunday-ticket-heres-what-we-know. Accessed 20 June 2022.
Roth, Emma. “Survey Shows Netflix Is Losing More Long-Term Subscribers.” The Verge, 18 May 2022, www.theverge.com/2022/5/18/23125424/netflix-losing-long-term-subscribers-streaming#:~:text=Netflix%20has%20started%202022%20out.
Steinberg, Brian, and Brian Steinberg. “ESPN’s Jimmy Pitaro on Cord-Cutting, New Takes on Sports Coverage and the NFL.” Variety, 27 Mar. 2018, variety.com/2018/tv/news/jimmy-pitaro-espn-nfl-streaming-politics-1202736559/#. Accessed 20 June 2022.
“What NFL TV Deals Mean for Future of Live Sports | Pro Football Talk | NBC Sports.” Www.youtube.com, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVmoNpNx-BE. Accessed 20 June 2022.