The NFL lost millions due to the pandemic in 2020, but they’ll make billions over the next decade with a slew of TV rights deals announced on Thursday.
The deal amounts to a $113 billion agreement that will last 11 years. The agreement will keep NFL games on ESPN/ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC, Amazon, and NFL Network through the 2033 season.
For the fans, much of the new deal will look like the old deal.
According to Pro Football Talk:
NBC will continue to show Sunday Night Football. ESPN will continue to show Monday Night Football. FOX will continue to show the NFC on Sunday afternoons. CBS will continue to show the AFC on Sunday afternoons.
Amazon, which previously had the rights only to simulcast Thursday Night Football on Prime Video, will now have the NFL’s first all-digital TV package with Thursday night games exclusively available through Amazon. The Amazon exclusive will begin with the 2023 season; FOX still has Thursday Night Football for the next two years.
The deal enhances ESPN’s NFL presence as well.
“ESPN’s package adds six games to the network during the season,” ESPN reported. “There will be three Monday night doubleheaders — with games on ESPN, followed by a game on ABC. There will also be a Saturday doubleheader during the season’s final weekend and one Sunday morning game streaming nationally on ESPN+.
“ESPN, which has previously aired a wild-card playoff game, will add one game in the divisional round as well.”
Super Bowl broadcasting assignments were made public as well.
“NBC will show the Super Bowl after the 2021, 2025, 2029 and 2033 seasons,” Pro Football Talk reported. “CBS will show the Super Bowl after the 2023, 2027 and 2031 seasons. FOX will show the Super Bowl after the 2022, 2024, 2028 and 2032 seasons. ESPN/ABC will show the Super Bowl after the 2026 and 2030 seasons.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hailed the deal as bringing “an unprecedented era of stability to the League.”
“These new media deals will provide our fans even greater access to the games they love,” Goodell said in a statement. “We’re proud to grow our partnerships with the most innovative media companies in the market. Along with our recently completed labor agreement with the NFLPA, these distribution agreements bring an unprecedented era of stability to the League and will permit us to continue to grow and improve our game.”
The deal essentially doubles the NFL’s annual media revenues. Last year, the league earned $5.9 billion through broadcasting deals. The new agreement will pay the league over $10 billion in television rights, annually.