NFL, Networks Agree to Multi-Billion Dollar Extension

You’d think beach volleyball could pull in numbers like that.

Makes perfect business sense, I guess, but I haven’t watched an NFL game this year. I just don’t find it interesting anymore. Seems like I’m watching the same game over and over and over…

The directTV exclusive for the Sunday Ticket has always seemed short sighted to me. Drop the price and make it available to anyone, and I’d bet a lot more people sign up. I’m sure I don’t see the entire picture though.

Don’t underestimate the influence of fantasy football — it is estimated that over 30 million Americans are in a fantasy football league, and it has helped spur the growth of the NFL on TV.

Now the fans include people who previously followed football lightly or not at all, and it has viewers paying attention not only to the game in their area, but the highlights section and the running ticker at the bottom of the screen and they watch from kick-off to the game’s final seconds. The internet is antother booster to this, since it is so easy to crunch numbers and talk smack in your league while watching.

You even have players keeping fantasy players up to date with injuries (to themselves and teammates) on twitter.

It’s a perfect storm of factors that have helped to make the NFL the National Pastime.

It is fascinating to reflect on the cultural impact fantasy football has had in the last 15 or so years.

For a multitude of reasons, the sport of football is just perfectly and best suited to maximize these times.

Fantasy football has been huge, but another big part of it is the expansion in home theater quality and availability, IMHO. Professional football (to a much greater extent than college or HS) suffers relatively little drop-off in fan quality from the live event to watching on TV among the major sports. You could argue the NBA has the same issue, but that league is so horribly mismanaged that it doesn’t even really matter. Thus, it’s not just the new, casual fans – who are obviously important – but that you or I can now watch multiple games at the same time from home with a better view of the action than anyone could do from the second deck at a live game.

Seems like I’m watching the same game over and over and over…

Yes, this has led me to watch fewer games over the years. I guess we are in the minority.

srr, I’ve always wondered this and it seems like you’re as good a person to ask as any. How does the late game schedule work? Living in Houston, I know that if there’s a Houston home game (generally at noon), the cross-station is blacked out from broadcasting its game. However, some weeks will generate two 3pm games on both FOX on CBS. On sad Sundays, only one game is broadcast. What’s the deal?

jc:

 Fox and CBS each will have 8 “doubleheader” weekends during the season, where they control the 12 noon and 3:pm time slots. NFL rules prohibit a game being shown in the same timeslot that the NFL team is playing at home. So if the Houston Texans are playing Carolina at Noon and Fox has the doubleheader that week — only the 3:00 pm game will be on in Houston.

If CBS has the doubleader that week then you will get two games at 3:00 pm.

The rules can get confusing, but basically the NFL guarantees at least one game a week in an NFL market.

Now where it can get interesting is that each NFL obviously has its primary market, and then they will declare “secondary” markets — usually within 75 miles — that it wants to carry its games.

Well in Texas that created a classic fight between the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Oilers over both Austin and San Antonio, two coveted secondary markets. When I was involved it generally came down to station management choosing sides, and 8 times out of 10 the Dallas Cowboys would win out (exception: Earl Campbell and the Luv Ya Blue Oilers).

This may be a noob question, but what’s the deal with the Gameticket? Is it ever going to come to cable or is it locked into DirectTV forever? I want the Gameticket something fierce. Satellite? Not so much.

jc: The difference between two games and three usually is a matter of whether, in this case, the Texans, are at home or on the road.

As srr said, if the local team is at home, each network gets one game. If the home game is sold out, that is one of the games. The other network is on in the other slot.

If the local team is on the road, the network that controls the doubleheader that week gets two games; the other has one. Usually, the local team gets the air to itself, but not always.

There has been a recent twist on home games. If the network that has the local team’s game also controls the doubleheader, it shows the doubleheader game as well.

Bateshorn: Sunday Ticket is DirecTV only.

I believe it’s huge driver for them in the commercial market. It guarantees them thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands) of bar/restaurant subscriptions.

I have DTV, and last year they offered me Sunday Ticket for basically nothing. so I took it. My suspicion was that they still needed to boost ST numbers. It just confirmed for me that I don’t need the NFL… at least not more than it’s otherwise available.

Very interesting. Fox is actually paying a little more for the NFC than CBS is for AFC. Both will broadcast 3 super bowls each. Each contract looks similar. Is the NFC worth 10 percent more than the AFC? Are there more viewers for NFC games?

NBC is paying nearly $1 billion to show one game each week?

I have DTV, and last year they offered me Sunday Ticket for basically nothing. so I took it. My suspicion was that they still needed to boost ST numbers. It just confirmed for me that I don’t need the NFL… at least not more than it’s otherwise available

My suspicion is that the Redzone has eliminated a lot of the need for sunday ticket for the casual fan. I used to want it even though I live in my team media market. I just want the opportunity to watch the best game on when I’m not watch my team. I don’t really care too much anymore, mainly because I don’t want DTV, but my need for more games is virtually satiated with the Redzone. That and my interest in the pro product waning over the last few years.

That is not how you spell “extension”.

Cashed NBC is paying for a primerime game – and the promotion vAlue it gets for the rest of it’s schedule

“NBC is paying nearly $1 billion to show one game each week?”

Have you seen the ratings that one game pulls in?

I think the fantasy football angle is a good one; I’m assuming you’re also including the other fan participation activities like the pick ’em pools (and their seemingly infinite number of permutations); most of these, of course, are tied to monetary payoffs.

I assume it’s common knowledge that the NCAA basketball tournament wouldn’t gather nearly the same amount of attention it does without the brackets.

Gambling makes the sports world go ’round.

MP: Basically, yes and yes.

In the top 20 Nielsen markets, the NFL is in 17 of the top 18 (LA still empty). NY, SF/Oak are “shared.”

Of the remaining 15:
NFC has 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. {They are Chicago, Philadelphia, DFW, DC, Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle, Phoenix, Tampa and Minneapolis.)
AFC has 7, 10, 16, 17, 18. (Boston, Houston, Miami, Denver, Cleveland.)

regarding NBC…

If you think about it, Fox and CBS only show 1.5 games per week (some weeks 1, some weeks 2) and theirs aren’t in prime time. Fox and CBS (and ABC) have to put up their high profile programming against the NFL juggernaut on Sunday night whereas NBC couldn’t care less what they’re showing on Sunday afternoons. Not to mention, NBC is guaranteed a solid matchup every week and its costs are lower, as they have to produce 1 game every week, whereas CBS/Fox have to produce like 5 or 6 simultaneously. All in all, I think $1bn is a great deal compared to what CBS & Fox pay.

“Additionally, the deal includes "TV everywhere" rights, which enables Fox Sports to offer the games it broadcasts and other NFL programming on FOXSports.com, tablets and other digital platforms …”

You’d think the money grubbers would offer something similar for LHN programming in those parts of the country not targeted for local cable, e.g., everywhere but Texas? While I cannot imagine enough demand for LHN to get it added to my Virginia cable net, I bet there’s an audience willing to pay for an internet stream. If so, why not tap into it?

P.S. I’ve made this comment about a dozen times and will continue to do so hoping that someone in Bellmont awakens to the smell of a potential new money source.

“Bellmont awakens to the smell of a potential new money source”

Bellmont is not in control of that. You need to be talking to the execs at ESPN/Disney.

“Bellmont is not in control of that. You need to be talking to the execs at ESPN/Disney.”

It seems appropriate for that talk to occur between business partners.

Bellmont can request those kinds of operations all they want, but ESPN decides how ESPN’s going to proceed. Your post indicates you don’t think Bellmont has approached ESPN with such ideas.

I imagine they have in fact – Bellmont has NEVER lacked creativity in coming up with revenue sources. And I’d further imagine that ESPN has responded with something like “Hey, that’s a good idea, let us take it to committee and we’ll get back to you.”

At this moment, ESPN is trying to get the LHN available in a very specific way. If that fails, I’m sure they’ll look at alternatives.

Appreciate the discourse. But, the only discussion one sees … at least that I ever see … about LHN availability is on blogs and bulletin boards. Nothing in the way of official UT news releases informing us common folk who reside outside the Tower’s shadow. A little PR info would go a long way. R/Thnx!

The NFL is in a precarious situation with Sunday Ticket. The more people that subscribe to Sunday Ticket, the less in fees the networks will pay as their ratings and advertising revenues drop.

Also, let this be the end of ESPN/CBS/NBC is a puppet of UT/SEC/ND and all that crap. Those deals are a drop in the bucket compared to this and if they really ever needed to, they’d pay the nfl to schedule more saturday games.

bizness: But the business is moving toward individual selection of programming over the long term. They are still in the business of maximizing their revenue based on the technology today, and right now, it’s still heavily in favor of network over-the-air (at least for the NFL). Just about everyone else is some combination of cable/satellite distribution and the internet.

It’s also not a coincidence that the new deal was struck to match the length of the contract with the players.

NBC will carry a Thankgiving Night contest begining in 2014.

Those bastards!

Wonder if that hurts the chances of getting Notre Dame to Austin at least every other Thanksgiving? OTOH, once less option for the Prodigal Ags to try and start an imitation tradition.