NFL commissioner pushes back on streaming games being anti-consumer
NFL commissioner pushes back on streaming games being anti-consumer
In an interview, NFL chief Roger Goodell pointed out that some streamers have greater distribution than traditional networks.
The NFL is in the midst of an intricate dance with its current broadcast partners. League commissioner Roger Goodell isn’t happy that the NBA is currently out-earning the NFL with its TV deals, and wants current broadcast partners to pony up more cash for their existing packages. Negotiations on those fee increases may end up waiting until before the 2027 season, but in a new interview, Goodell offered his counterargument to the notion that putting more games on streaming services represents an anti-competitive tactic by the NFL.
Key Details:
- Shady dealings: Fox has been vocal in efforts to persuade the NFL not to put more games on streaming services.
- Just business: Goodell says that some streamers offer greater reach than traditional TV platforms.
- Fait accompli?: Comments from former media executives suggest that, in the end, Goodell will get what he wants.
The NFL has been clear about its desire to sell more games to streaming services — specifically, the growing inventory of international games it has to distribute. But the league’s linear broadcast partners are pushing back against the NFL’s seeming desire to strip games from traditional channels for digital-only outlets. Fox has sent clear messages to the league that it may try to wield political influence if the NFL gets too cozy with streamers.
That influence could include an investigation by the FCC, but Goodell doesn’t sound intimidated by the prospect. Speaking with Vanity Fair, the NFL commissioner said that he disagrees with accusations that putting more games on streamers would be anticompetitive and anti-consumer.
“Well, I don’t agree with that because 88 percent of our games, roughly, are on broadcast television,” Goodell said. “The other 12 percent are on platforms that are incredibly widely distributed and people are already there. Netflix is not a small distribution. In fact, you can make an argument it’s bigger than some of the networks.”
Netflix has over 300 million global subscribers, and it is indeed fair to wonder if all of the league’s current linear partners can boast that kind of reach. YouTube is another one of the streamers angling to get more NFL games, and that platform has an estimated 2.7 billion active monthly users. So, to Goodell’s point, the argument that these streamers are too obscure or difficult for fans to access doesn’t hold as much water as it might on first blush.
Vanity Fair also spoke to media executives who have dealt with Goodell in negotiations before, and after reading their quotes, the point becomes crystal clear: the NFL gets what the NFL wants. You can either get on board or get out of the way when the league moves to replace you as a partner.
“My recollection of the negotiations is they were much more about what you were going to get for the money you were going to pay, and much less about the money you were gonna pay,” former ESPN chief John Skipper said. “And also much less about what games you were going to get…at least in my experience, the NFL did not negotiate much on price.”
The league may end up waiting to ask its current media partners for an increase in rights fees until after this upcoming season, or it may go ahead with those negotiations this year. But Goodell clearly isn’t interested in backing down to linear networks that are concerned about the shift of games to streamers, and if he digs in, networks may have limited leverage as they try to fight back.
Netflix
Netflix is a leading subscription-based video streaming service that offers on-demand access to an extensive library of over 3,000 movies, 2,000+ TV shows, and a growing collection of acclaimed Netflix originals. Renowned for producing groundbreaking content, Netflix has become a cultural powerhouse with hit originals like “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “Squid Game,” “The Crown,” “Tiger King,” “Bridgerton,” “The Witcher,” and “Black Mirror.”