NFL

Verizon Communications is close to a new deal with the National Football League for digital streaming rights that would give the largest U.S. wireless carrier the ability to deliver game broadcasts to internet-connected TVs, tablets and phones, according to people familiar with the matter.

As Roger Goodell, Jerry Jones, and the NFL engage in an ugly internal fight over the future leadership of the NFL, TV partners at CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC are staring at their own internal conflicts — namely a substantial decline in NFL ratings that is on pace to cost the four networks up to $500 million in lost revenue.

Through nine weeks of the NFL regular season, TV ratings have narrowed viewing declines versus earlier-season results. All TV advertising revenues on NFL networks have inched up versus a year ago.

At the start of the season in September, the NFL witnessed lower pricing for individual TV commercials in the scatter TV marketplace, according to media cost research and analysis company SQAD. But overall TV revenue is still higher, according to a separate estimate.

The matchup between the Oakland Raiders and the Miami Dolphins on NBC is currently averaging a 4.0 rating in adults 18-49 and 11.7 million viewers, down from the preliminary ratings for last week’s game (4.3, 12.7 million). On CBS, an overrun of NFL football boosted the numbers for the network’s Sunday primetime lineup.

An audience distracted by the 2016 presidential election and turned off, perhaps, by the absence of star NFL players and better match-ups migrated away from NFL broadcasts last season — which saw overall viewership dip by 8%. Nonetheless, advertisers for the most part are willing to pay more to sponsor the sport than they did last season. Meanwhile, the cost of a 30-second ad in NBC’s Thursday Night Football is up 3.7%, to $524,047. And the cost of a 30-second spot in ESPN’s Monday Night Football has hiked 3.6%, to an average of $385,000.

Promising a “seamless” experience for viewers, Fox Sports says it will air nine six-second ads during its Thanksgiving Day telecast of the NFL matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions.

Despite some ratings declines and mixed public opinion about the NFL overall, TV revenues for the league were up 2% in September versus the same month a year ago. TV advertising pulled in $513 million versus $504 million in September 2016.

The New England victory over the Atlanta Falcons on NBC is the NFL’s best primetime showing since week one.

Justin Timberlake’s performance will take place during the Feb. 4, 2018, game. This will be Timberlake’s third Super Bowl halftime performance, the most for any entertainer. Timberlake performed at the 2001 Super Bowl with N’Sync, and he sang Rock Your Body with Janet Jackson in 2004 in Houston. That performance concluded with Timberlake ripping her costume to reveal her right breast bare except for a nipple shield.

Any negative public sentiment surrounding the issue of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem hasn’t been reflected in current TV viewership. NFL national TV viewership has now lessened its early-season double-digit percentage declines from a year ago to a current 7% drop. Through the past six weeks, national TV NFL games are averaging a Nielsen 15.12 million viewers versus 16.3 million through the same time period a year ago.

The top executives of four TV station groups assessed the state of the TV broadcasting business (l-r: Hearst’s Jordan Wertlieb, NBC’s Valari Staab, Tegna’s Dave Lougee and Sinclair’s Chris Ripley). Among their topics were the future of audience measurement including specific-device measurement built into the ATSC 3.0 standard; why automated buying and selling of TV ads has been so slow to be adopted; and the changing value of sports programming, especially NFL games. (Photo: Wendy Moger-Bross)

The NFL through Week 6 continued to close the deficit of TV viewers compared with last season — albeit at a numbingly slow pace. Through Week 6, the NFL’s 37 national telecasts averaged 15.3 million viewers, according to data compiled by Sports Media Watch, which is down 7.2% from the average 16.5 million viewers through the same week a season ago.

Declining NFL television ratings will lower CBS earnings, according to Credit Suisse. The firm cut its third-quarter EPS estimates by 5%, citing CBS’ softer Sunday NFL ratings. The media company reports on Nov. 2.

Roger Goodell on Tuesday said the fiery debate over protests during the national anthem is “threatening to erode” the game, according to a letter the NFL commissioner sent to all 32 teams.

President Donald Trump is suggesting the U.S. change its tax laws to punish organizations like the NFL if members are “disrespecting” the national anthem or flag.

NEW YORK (AP) — A CBS Sports reporter clarified his televised report saying quarterback Colin Kaepernick told him he would stand during the national anthem if he played in the NFL again, […]

Nearly 2 million people logged onto Amazon.com for the online retailer’s first livestream of Thursday Night Football, the National Football League said.

The NFL’s Thursday night package is being carried jointly by CBS, NBC, the NFL Network and Amazon this year, but the 2018 package will soon be up for bid. There could be substantial interest from companies like Twitter — which aired Thursday night games last year — Amazon, and potentially other tech behemoths like Google, Apple or Facebook.

The National Football League and Facebook have signed a deal to bring NFL game recaps and highlights to the world’s largest social network, culminating years of talks, the NFL said today. The deal comes with both parties at strategic turning points, as Facebook seeks to add more video to attract viewers and the NFL tries to follow eyeballs from traditional television to social media.

The Sunday Night Football matchup between the Washington and Oakland delivered a one-sided game for viewers and a weakened ratings return for NBC. With Washington dominating throughout and ultimately winning 27-10, Sunday Night Football averaged an 11.6 rating in Nielsen’s metered-market household numbers. That’s down 11% from early numbers for the third week of the season last year.

Sunday morning, President Trump essentially called for a boycott of the NFL in response to players using the national anthem to protest police profiling of African-Americans. Should Trump’s supporters respond to that call, the medium-term effects could be serious for the NFL. But the impact would be at least as bad, and much more immediate, for the broadcasters who pay to air games.

The NFL’s ratings were down 12% in its opening weekend and down 15% year-over-year in its second, all on top of an 8% drop last year. One analyst surmises that CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC will garner $2.5 billion in ad revenues this season, “but a 10 percent shortfall could translate to a $200 million cut in earnings.”

How new concussion reports could bring down a multibillion-dollar American empire.

FuboTV announced today the launch of a new, national marketing endeavor that includes the company’s first TV commercials, premiering at the start of the new NFL season and introducing viewers to “Fubo […]

Live streaming TV service Fubo.TV is adding more NFL programming in time for the kick-off of the 2017-18 season.  Through a new carriage agreement with NFL Media, NFL Network and NFL […]

The sports universe is heavily Balkanized online, meaning your best bet at comprehensive streaming of pro football will involve that old standby — a cable or satellite TV subscription — or cellphone service through Verizon. Otherwise, you’ll be limited to a few unrestricted games online, including Thursday’s night season opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots. Here’s a stream-by-stream guide.

NFL’s key primetime series could rebound with higher viewership this season from the impact of negative factors in the early season and the presidential election in 2016, according to one media analyst. Michael Nathanson, senior research analyst of MoffettNathanson Research, expects a 5% gain for NBC’s Sunday Night Football — to hit 21.3 million viewers for the 2017 season — and an 11% increase for ESPN’s Monday Night Football to 12.7 million viewers.

The new pact extends coverage of all Patriots pre-season games, Patriots All Access, Patriots GameDay and 5^th Quarter exclusively on the CBS O&O and co-owned WSBK.

Nielsen says last year’s regular-season NFL games declined 9% in viewership to an average 17.1 million viewers. This occurred as national TV advertising revenues have climbed — to $4.2 billion in the NFL regular-season games, up from $3.8 billion in 2015.

With just a few weeks to go before the kickoff of football season, advertisers may be questioning whether primetime NFL games can still score as many marketing touchdowns as it has in the past. A Variety survey of commercial-ratings projections for the 2017-18 broadcast-network TV season finds that ad buyers believe fewer people than last season will watch commercials during such primetime stalwarts as NBC’s Sunday Night Football and the Thursday Night Football broadcasts on both NBC and CBS.

The number of commercial breaks during NFL games has often bothered viewers — and not just those sprinting to the bathroom or kitchen. The solution is to decrease the number of breaks to four per quarter, down from the previous 5-6-5-5 pattern, which often forced networks to squeeze more than a half-dozen breaks into a 15-minute playing period. The league and its broadcast partners — CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN — all insist that the move has nothing to do with the NFL’s 9 percent drop in ratings in 2016.