New NFL Broadcast Deals Signal The Eventual End of Traditional Television
By Movieguide® Staff
Streaming services proved to be the primary source of entertainment this past year, solidifying that television’s future is moving away from traditional broadcast TV.
However, live sports have been viewed as a stalwart of traditional television.
The NFL recently agreed to new rights deals with their current broadcast partners. But with a steep 79.5% increase, which comes out to an additional $4.54 billion a year, the future of live sports on broadcast television is expected to end.
The deals include Amazon acquiring the majority of “Thursday Night Football” games and multicast options for various streaming services.
Variety reported on the NFL’s landmark deal:
The pivot to streaming signals that this will be broadcast TV’s last hurrah with the NFL, for the full regular season at least. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell indicated as much when he spoke about the new deals, stating that they represent a seminal moment for the distribution of NFL content. In other words, the floodgates have been opened.
Considering the cost of cable has been a consistent reason for cutting the cord since the phenomenon began picking up speed in 2015, the wisdom in taking on massive new expenses that will significantly increase costs is questionable.
Now, with multicasts included in the new deals with streaming platforms, the transition is certain to take place.
According to Variety, Fox will show games for free on Tubi, a strategy that is likely to become commonplace for television broadcasters and their streaming services.
Disney, the primary owner of ESPN+, is looking to land a deal that would allow the entertainment company to own the “NFL Sunday Ticket”—which continues to boast one of the most significant TV audiences.
Variety reported:
This will be a precursor to where most of the regular season NFL games end up when the next renewal hits in 2033. The anticipated demise of traditional TV will be in full swing then, and while it’s possible that the broadcast networks could team up to multicast one or two “games of the week” then, it will be tech-media hybrids ruling the roost then. The die has already been cast on that note as the NFL begins its digital transformation.
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