As Disney Antes Up, Nfl Is All Ears $9.2 Billion TV Contract Leaves Nbc Out Of The Loop For Five Years, Improves Position Of Espn, Abc
When the dealing was done, the players had changed but the result was the same: The NFL hit the jackpot.
The final pieces of the NFL’s television package fell into place Tuesday evening when Disney struck a blockbuster $9.2 billion, eight-year contract with the NFL, keeping “Monday Night Football” for ABC and winning the entire Sunday night cable package for ESPN.
The stunning deal ends NBC’s 33 consecutive years of televising pro football and leaves NBC and Turner Broadcasting out of the NFL for at least five years. NBC’s final broadcast will be the Super Bowl on Jan. 25.
“The NFL and NBC had a tremendous long-term relationship spanning thousands of hours of great football,” NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. “It’s very difficult to have that end, as it was very difficult to interrupt a similar relationship with CBS in 1993.
“We also enjoyed a special association with Ted Turner and his talented group of TV professionals,” he said.
After watching the NBA double its money in its television contract in November, NFL owners wanted the same result. And they got it.
Along with the contracts signed by CBS and Fox on Monday, the NFL will take in at least $17.6 billion from the four networks over the next eight years, a $2.2 billion yearly average. The previous deal, which expires next month, paid the league $1.1 billion a year for four years.
ABC made the dramatic announcement on “World News Tonight,” when a correspondent said: “ABC gets Monday night, NBC gets nothing.”
CBS and Fox struck their deals Monday, with CBS paying $4 billion for eight years of AFC football and Fox paying $4.4 billion for the NFC.
The Walt Disney Co. will pay $1.15 billion a year for “Monday Night Football” and games on Sunday night, 137 percent more than ABC, ESPN and TNT paid for the same games under the last contract, industry sources told The Associated Press.
ABC also gets the rights to three Super Bowls. The league and network are still discussing the possibility of moving the start time for “Monday Night Football” to 5 p.m. Pacific time.
CBS already agreed to pay $500 million a year for the AFC and two Super Bowls. Fox will pay $550 for the NFC and three Super Bowls.
The new agreements with ABC and ESPN - owned by Disney - and CBS and Fox provides for rights fees at guaranteed levels through the 2005 season. While the contracts are firm for the first five years, the NFL can reopen the contracts before the 2003 season.
TNT, a division of Time Warner Inc.’s Turner Broadcasting System, has been showing NFL games on Sunday nights for the first half of the season since 1990.
“TNT is very strong and we’ve made substantial investments in programming, both entertainment and sports,” Turner Broadcasting said in a statement. “In looking at the NFL numbers, we weren’t prepared to change our economic model for TNT or our affiliates.”
TNT balked when it was asked to pay $295 million to retain its half of the Sunday night package, a TV industry source said on the condition he not be identified. TNT had paid $124 million a year in the previous deal.
While employees reported a tense and gloomy mood at NBC and ABC as they awaited their fate, there was nothing but good news at “Black Rock,” CBS’ headquarters. Even the guards wore hats bearing the slogan “NFL on CBS.”
“To know that we’re back in the NFL is a real relief,” said CBS Sports president Sean McManus, whose network fell to No. 3 after losing the NFL to Fox four years ago.
This is the second big blow this month to NBC, which is losing “Seinfeld” at the end of the season and could lose “ER.”
But NBC should not experience the disastrous freefall CBS experienced after losing the NFL in 1993. NBC still has a strong sports lineup, including the NBA, Olympics, baseball, golf and tennis.
“NBC is probably the strongest network and could probably survive the loss of the NFL better than any of its competitors,” said Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports who runs a consulting firm.
xxxx THE PRICE OF FOOTBALL The NFL will take in at least $17.6 billion from four networks over the next eight years, a $2.2 billion yearly average. The previous deal, which expires next month, paid the league $1.1 billion a year for four years. Here’s how the networks shape up: ABC will pay $550 million a year, a 139 percent increase from the previous deal. ESPN will pay $600 million, 135 percent more than what ESPN and TNT paid previously for the Sunday night broadcasts. CBS will pay $500 million a year for the AFC. Fox will pay $550 for the NFC. NBC, after a 33-year run, will have no broadcast rights for at least five years. The network has the Super Bowl on Jan. 25.