The NFL’s broadcasting rights bring in a significant chunk of its revenue. Presently, five companies namely CBS, NBCUniversal, Fox, Amazon, and Disney have the rights to stream games. The league’s latest negotiations brought in $110 billion over 11 years. Commissioner Roger Goodell will be looking to rival the NBA and continue to maintain an edge over the league which recently reached a $76 billion media rights deal.
In his customary annual sitdown with CNBC, Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked by Julia Boorstin if the NFL is underpaid and deserves to be paid more for its broadcasting rights. However, rather than address the question head-on, Goodell decided to respond with an evasive answer.
The Commissioner reiterated the NFL’s commitment to making the game more accessible for viewers and to bring onboard more fans.
A lot of people in the NFL think they’re underpaid. But I think, listen, we have great relationships with our networks and a lot of our media is not about the dollars as much as it is how do we reach more fans?.. Obviously, we want to be paid fairly but for us, it’s about reaching fans and being on a free platform like we are (and) allows our fans to see that and I think that’s what’s led to the great not only popularity of the league but obviously the great ratings.
Roger Goodell said
Indirectly, Goodell did give a response, because a larger viewership means more income for the league.
The NFL averaged 17.9 million viewers for the 2023-24 regular season
This year, the league witnessed a surge in viewership that was fuelled by Taylor Swift’s presence at the games. As per Deadline, the league had an increase of 9% in terms of female viewership alone. Another reason for the increased viewership is the NFL partnering up with YouTube to stream games, fans now have multiple platforms and options to watch the games.
Roger Goodell (via IMAGO)Commissioner Roger Goodell aims to take the NFL’s annual revenue to hit $25 billion by 2027. After the NBA’s recent media signings, there is a good possibility that the league is reconsidering some of its existing contracts. However, legally, they cannot get out of it until 2029, after which there is room for them to negotiate. Presently, the NFL can make some changes to the deal with CBS. The merger between Paramount and Skydance will mean that CBS is in the hands of new ownership and Goodell did not deny the possibility of that happening.
He hinted at renegotiating the deal to rake in more money for the NFL.
We’ll obviously be paying close attention to the process. We know Skydance. We’re partners with Skydance. They’ve done a terrific job with our relationship. So we’ll look at the structure of the deal. We’ll see how it impacts us. We’ll see how it impacts our business and we’ll make the best decision for the NFL at that point.
Roger Goodell added
The recent Sunday Ticket fiasco has put a dent in the league’s bank account as it could wind up paying $14 billion in the form of damages. The league will most certainly be looking to make up that loss as it negotiates its future media contracts.
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