The Thursday Night Football games previously were televised by CBS and NBC, two of the league’s other network partners. But Fox announced Wednesday that it will televise 11 games between Weeks 4 and 15, with simulcasts on NFL Network and Fox Deportes. Fox, is reported to be paying around $550 million per year, up from the $450 million CBS and NBC paid for 10 games.
Fox $550M Bid Wins Thursday Night Football
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Fox and the NFL have agreed to a five-year deal for Thursday night football games.
Those games previously were televised by CBS and NBC, two of the league’s other network partners. But Fox announced Wednesday that it will televise 11 games between Weeks 4 and 15, with simulcasts on NFL Network and Fox Deportes.
According to Sports Business Daily, Fox will pay the NFL “more than the combined $450 million per year CBS and NBC paid over the last two years. Sources peg Fox’ payout at an average of around $550M per year through the ’22 season, which syncs up with the league’s other TV deals.”
Fox, which has the Sunday afternoon NFC package, will produce all of the games.
“This is a single partner deal, we are not splitting the package,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “We had tremendous amount of interest from all the broadcast partners, all of whom wanted it exclusively. We felt this was the best opportunity for the NFL to grow the Thursday night package.”
Goodell added the league is exploring partnerships with digital outlets, also in conjunction with Fox.
The NFL has broadcast deals “five years out” with its other partners — ESPN has the Monday night package — so five years on this agreement made sense.
“Fundamentally, Fox was built on football,” said Peter Rice, the president of 21st Century Fox, nothing that 25 years ago, the NFC package “helped launch a fledgling network into what it is today.”
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“These opportunities come along very, very infrequently,” he added. “You either have the rights to the most-watched content in media or you don’t. If you don’t take the opportunity, this won’t come up again for five years. We believe in buying the very best rights, and the best rights are the NFL.”
CBS and NBC each paid $450 million for the previous two-year package.
Comments (9)
Cheryl Thorne says:
January 31, 2018 at 2:40 pm
They need it more than the others because of their dismal prime ratings!!
Rachel Fowler says:
January 31, 2018 at 4:21 pm
This really helps out their prime lineup, which is already full of encores. Bring back Cops and AMW to Saturday night!
Taiwo Akande says:
January 31, 2018 at 4:25 pm
Great idea for Saturdays. Smarter than a 5th grader and family shows for Friday night.
Shenee Howard says:
January 31, 2018 at 5:36 pm
great, more opportunities for Buck and Aikman to not shut up. The motor mouth network.
John Livingston says:
January 31, 2018 at 11:57 pm
Joe Buck & Troy Aikman do a great job in the booth but I don’t think Fox is going to use Buck or Aikman for TNF.
Fred E Walker says:
February 1, 2018 at 1:47 pm
Could not agree more. And why does Aikman seem to always be yelling? Is he hard of hearing?
Snead Hearn says:
January 31, 2018 at 6:00 pm
Helps Fox prime….be prepared for constant promotion and hype for Fox prime during game.
Don Thompson says:
January 31, 2018 at 6:38 pm
Does this NFL deal have anything to do with retransmission consent blackouts by Fox affiliates against small cable operators? …… Please Follow Me On Twitter: @TedatACA or @AmericanCable
John Livingston says:
January 31, 2018 at 11:58 pm
Thought that Fox was going to get TNF as both NBC & CBS put in lower bids than what they bid a few years ago.