Nothing, it seems, can strip the National Football League of its unquestioned popularity.
The American public’s voracious appetite for football continues to pay off, with the NFL reaching an 11-year, potentially $100 billion media rights agreement that will run through 2033.
No one is left out; all existing broadcast partners are back on board and Amazon Prime Video joins the party as an exclusive partner for Thursday Night Football.
Who knew Jeff Bezos’ company had an extra billion lying around? That’s the reported price to own Thursday nights, and this 10-year deal, beginning in 2023, marks the first time a streaming service will exclusively carry a full package of games.
Amazon’s deal runs 10 years and begins in 2023.
Here are some of the reported specifics, via CNBC.com:
- ViacomCBS, Fox and Comcast (which owns NBCUniversal) are all paying more than $2 billion per year for their 11-year-long packages.
- Disney (which owns ESPN and ABC) will pay around $2.7 billion annually, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Fox is also projected to pay over $2 billion in its new contact, but will save $660 million as it relinquishes the Thursday Night Football package.
- Disney is paying more and receiving more NFL content, including rights to exclusively air an international game each year, beginning in 2022, one source said.
- ESPN keeps the Monday Night Football package and also has rights to air two Super Bowls on its ABC network.
- Disney can stream all NFL games that air on ABC and ESPN on ESPN+, the league said.
“These new media deals will provide our fans even greater access to the games they love,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
“We’re proud to grow our partnerships with the most innovative media companies in the market.”
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