The NFL secured its future for at least the next decade when it renegotiated its most recent round of television broadcast contracts.
When its television contracts expired in 2013, CBS (PARA), NBC (CMCSA), Fox (FOXA), and ESPN (DIS) paid a combined $20.4 billion for the broadcast rights during the previous decade.
Between 2014 and 2022, those same entities agreed to pay a combined $39.6 billion for the same rights they had under the old deal.
Doubling the value of its television contracts shows just how powerful the NFL became over the past decade.
So what made the NFL broadcast rights so valuable?
The league is consistently in the Top 10 most watched programs every year, with weekly broadcasts dominating along with the country's most watched program every year, the Super Bowl.
Advertising is the lifeblood of broadcast television and in 2020 the league generated $3.3 billion in ad revenue for its television partners, Standard Media Index data showed, according to Forbes.
So it wasn't a surprise that for the next batch television contracts, those same big 4 broadcasters more than doubled the league's haul from the last batch of contracts, agreeing to pay $89.5 billion over 11 years for broadcast rights.
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NFL's Tackles Next Gen Broadcasting
On Monday, the NFL launched NFL+, its new subscription-based content streaming service for $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year for its base tier of service.
NFL+ offers exclusive access to live out-of-market preseason games, a service that was previously only available for those who paid $99.99 per year for NFL Game Pass.
The service also provides access to live national games and live regional games that are made available in your local TV market on your phone or tablet.
In this way the NFL avoids completely cannibalizing its Sunday Ticket service which allows subscribers to watch the league's full slate of games, minus the primetime games, regardless of regional coverage.
While NFL+ won't initially carry non-local games, the service could eventually as the league looks at viewership habits.
“It’s another option we’ll consider with all of our other options. We are really excited about where NFL+ can go. As quickly as media and the sports distribution business continues to change and evolve, there are lots of different factors," NFL Media executive VP Hans Schroeder said, according to CNBC.
NFL+ will also include NFL Network shows on demand and archived NFL Films programming.
NFL+ Premium, the higher tier for NFL+ goes for $9.99 per month, or $79.99 per year, and features full and condensed game replays and access to coaches film not seen during the broadcast.
NFL Sunday Ticket Up in the Air
While the league has found a home for most of its content for the next decade, it still does have one more big decision to make: who gets the broadcast rights to NFL Sunday Ticket?
The NFL is looking for the buyer willing to pay more than $2 billion annually for the rights to Sunday Ticket, which is the package that features all of the league's regional broadcasts on Sundays, according to CNBC.
"I clearly believe we’ll be moving to a streaming service,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin in a recent interview. “I think that’s best for consumers at this stage.”
Disney, Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) all submitted bids weeks ago for the package, which includes a stake in NFL Media and potentially mobile rights to the league's game broadcasts.
Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that Google's YouTube TV online cable platform has made a bid.
Cable provider DirecTV has been paying $1.5 billion annually for the broadcast rights. A deal is not expected imminently, according to the report, as DirecTV still has the rights to Sunday Ticket for the upcoming 2022 season.
NFL fans would have to subscribe to DirecTV to have access to Sunday Ticket, that requirement won't be present in the new deal, CNBC reported.
