The NFL has renewed its media rights deal with their usual partners – CBS, NBC, Disney, and FOX – while also introducing Amazon to the mix. You can read the full press release from the NFL here.
While most networks deal with declining television ratings due to the changing media landscape, live sports remains king. Just about the only thing that is still live appointment viewing on network television is live sports, and the NFL is at the top of the heap.
Here's a look at viewership numbers from over the last five years… pic.twitter.com/t93rdN4BkW
— NFL345 (@NFL345) March 18, 2021
The deal shakes up the normal scheduling, however. It was announced that ESPN will now get three Monday Night Football doubleheaders, and will be eligible for flex scheduling later in the season. Their streaming network, ESPN+, will also get an international Sunday morning game once per year.
The craziest part of all of this is that Amazon Prime is now reportedly the exclusive home of Thursday Night Football. Literally putting one game a week behind a paywall. How ridiculous, man.
Anyway, the NFL keeps getting richer. So while the salary cap may have slightly dropped this season due to lost COVID related revenue, those numbers are going to explode again in the near future.
