Broadcasters and streaming video platforms will collectively pay around $110 billion over the next decade to continue offering television’s most-watched live event: Football.
That was the takeaway from a new report issued by SNL Kagan this week, which evaluated the National Football League’s (NFL) domestic and international TV deals with stakeholders like the Walt Disney Company (ABC, ESPN), Fox Corporation, DAZN, Comcast (NBC Universal), Paramount (CBS), Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and others.
The NFL’s current rights deal with U.S. broadcasters and streaming platforms was forged in 2021 and took effect during the 2023 football season (which extended into 2024 when accounting for playoff games and the Super Bowl).
The deal runs for 11 years, though the NFL and broadcasters included opt-out provisions that allow for the reworking of some broadcast and streaming agreements as early as 2029.
In the U.S., NFL games comprise nearly all of the top 100 broadcasts during the year. While the NFL logged a 2 percent decline among traditional TV broadcasters last year, streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video, Comcast’s Peacock and Fox-owned Tubi helped the NFL reach football fans on more-targeted platforms, which allowed the money to continue flowing to TV stakeholders and the league alike.
New digital agreements are a key part of the rights cycle. Netflix will pay around $150 million a year to stream two Christmas Day games from 2024 through 2026. YouTube will carry its first exclusive game this season and has signed a multiyear deal to distribute a Super Bowl Flag Football event. YouTube also holds the exclusive rights to NFL Sunday Ticket, a package that offers access to regional games aired on CBS and Fox stations beyond a fan’s home turf.
ESPN, which has long offered Monday Night Football, is also shelling out more for football-related media. The Disney-owned sports network recently announced a plan to acquire NFL Media, including its TV channels NFL Network and NFL RedZone, in an effort to bolster the prominence of its new streaming plan ESPN Unlimited. (NFL Sunday Ticket is not part of the deal, but the NFL’s streaming platform, NFL Plus, is.) As part of Disney’s NFL rights deal, ESPN and ABC will also offer at least two Super Bowl games during the 11-year rights period.
With domestic rights largely locked up, the NFL is now prioritizing its growth overseas. In most countries, ESPN International and DAZN have locked up broadcast and streaming rights to regular-season and playoff NFL games. In the United Kingdom, Paramount’s Channel 5 shares broadcast rights with ITV and Sky Sports.
