The NFL has finalized media deals for the next decade that it says will help transition fans from traditional television to streaming platforms, including a deal that will make Amazon Prime Video the exclusive home for Thursday Night Football.
The deals, which are valued at more than $100 billion and run through 2033, will keep the vast majority of NFL games on the familiar network and cable TV channels: NBC, CBS, Fox and ESPN. But it will also give those media partners opportunities to expand access to games on streaming.
“Streaming is truly the future,” Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots owner and chairman of the NFL Media Committee, said on a conference call with reporters Thursday. This “new hybrid of traditional viewing options and streaming… will help transition viewers to that future.”
Comcast will pay more than $2 billion annually to maintain its rights for Sunday Night Football on NBC, while CBS and Fox will both pay a similar sum to maintain their rights for Sunday games, two sources familiar with the deals said. Those networks will also stream their games on their respective streaming platforms: NBCUniversal’s Peacock, CBS’ Paramount+ (CBS) and Fox’s Tubi. Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.
Disney, which owns ESPN and ABC, will pay around $2.7 billion annually to keep Monday Night Football while also getting rights to additional regular season and playoff games. Most notably, ABC will now be put into rotation for Super Bowl rights with the other partners. Disney also has the option to simulcast all its games on ESPN+.
Amazon, which currently has streaming rights for Thursday Night Football, will now pay around $1 billion a year for exclusive rights to those games. It will also be responsible for producing the games; historically it has simulcast broadcasts produced by the NFL Network or Fox.
NFL games are far and away the most-watched programs on television. On Thursday’s media call, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the game’s transition to streaming services could turbocharge the already rapid growth of direct-to-consumer platforms, much as the NFL helped grow broadcast in the 1960s, cable in the 1980s and satellite TV in the 1990s.
“These new media deals will provide our fans even greater access to the games they love,” Goodell said. “We’re proud to grow our partnerships with the most innovative media companies in the market.”
Not included in this week’s deals were the rights for NFL’s Sunday Ticket, which gives subscribers access to all out-of-market games. Sunday Ticket rights currently belong to AT&T’s DirecTV and will be up for renewal starting in 2023. An AT&T representative said the Ticket is exclusive to DirecTV subscribers and will not be available on AT&T’s HBO Max.
ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro has said in a previous interview with NBC News that Disney will talk to the NFL about acquiring rights for the Ticket when they’re up for renewal.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
