The NFL’s current effort to get more from its broadcast partners prompted one of them to go straight to the White House for help.
Via the Wall Street Journal, Fox owner Rupert Murdoch told President Donald Trump during a February dinner that, if the NFL sells more games to streaming companies, “it would kill broadcast networks.”
Since then, the NFL has endured increased scrutiny from multiple prongs of the federal government. From Congress to the FCC to the Department of Justice, the league has found itself on the wrong end of unprecedented heat.
Per the report, the situation prompted Commissioner Roger Goodell to express concern to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles (the daughter of the legendary Pat Summerall) in April. Goodell reportedly said he would be happy to prove that the NFL’s media model is the fairest among the major American sports leagues.
Trump also has reportedly spoken in recent weeks to Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
After absorbing a flurry of body blows, the NFL began pushing back. The front-line talking point is that 87 percent of all games are televised by broadcast TV.
That statistic is, frankly, a bit misleading. The bulk of a given week’s games are televised by CBS and Fox on Sunday afternoons, with games starting at 1:00 p.m. ET, 4:05 p.m. ET, and 4:25 p.m. ET. When it comes to the standalone windows — which the league hopes to fill with compelling games — Sunday night is on NBC. Monday night was intended to be on cable and cable only; ABC simulcasts have become more common in recent years. And Thursday night streams only on Prime Video.
Other “big” games stream. The Christmas afternoon games, the current Black Friday game, and the Week 1 international game have been taken away from free, over-the-air TV. The coming Thanksgiving Eve game also is destined for streaming. Also, the Packers-Bears wild-card game was not available on free TV.
Although the NFL will never concede that it hasn’t been able to achieve its apparent goals, the fact remains that something has delayed the effort to get the current partners to pay a lot more now for deals that were already done. The political assault is the most likely reason for the removal of steam from the relentless pursuit of more.
Where it goes from here remains to be seen. Some think the networks will refuse to redo deals that run four more years, opting instead to take their chances after 2029, when all of the packages except Monday Night Football will become available for the highest bidders. Others think the NFL will look for an off ramp that allows the league to get more now — but not as much as the league wanted.
