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As the NFL continues to expand its reach, more media companies are looking for their piece of the TV rights pie.
But as the media rights deal currently sits, there is already a demographic of fans who view it all as too much. And fans may have to figure out how to access even more platforms, with the league expected to rip up its current paperwork for a more lucrative media rights deal, where additional media partners could get involved.
Tim Brando, the longtime sports broadcaster who currently works with FOX Sports, believes there are Americans who don’t like where the NFL, and sports leagues in general, are headed with the use of so many platforms.
“I’m here to tell you, a lot of America isn’t ready for it and doesn’t like it,” Brando said on “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich.”
The NFL’s current primetime game slots include Netflix, ESPN, Peacock (“Sunday Night Football,” which also airs on NBC) and Amazon Prime Video (“Thursday Night Football”). If other players get involved, consumers will have another platform to keep track of, not to mention the cost of another subscription on top of how else they consume the league’s games each year.
Brando explained to Dakich how he feels from a March Madness standpoint.
EX-NFL STAR SHAWNE MERRIMAN ADVOCATING FOR PLAYERS TO GET PAID MORE WHEN TV RIGHTS DEALS EXPLODE
“A lot of people that are not just our age, but people who are a little younger were searching trying to find Big East Tournament games and they couldn’t get it,” he explained, pointing to how there was a demographic that didn’t know where to access tournament games since they were no longer on FOX. “They were on Peacock, OK?
“The regular over-air networks like CBS, FOX, NBC over the air, and ABC – we’ve spent a lot of money and you’re not getting the revenue streams that you get from an Amazon, from an Apple, from a Netflix, or, in cable, you’re not getting what obviously ESPN all those years got in overcharging everyone to get the games on ESPN. Those networks, if you’re in over-the-air, legacy networks, it’s costing so much that now streaming is beginning to take over.
“In doing so, people in our generation, and I’d say even down into the 50s and early 40s, people are like, “Where’s the game? I can’t find the game.’”
The FCC said last month it would seek public comment about the ongoing shift of live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services, which includes the other major sports leagues in the country like the NBA, MLB and more. For the NFL specifically, to catch every ounce of action throughout the 2025 season, fans had to pay at least $575, with some spending nearly $800.
The price tag may increase sooner than later, too, if the NFL figures out a new media rights deal that is likely to be more than its roughly $10 billion per year in revenue.
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