Is the NFL gearning up to renegotiate its TV deals?
Is the NFL gearning up to renegotiate its TV deals?
A window could open for the NFL to get a raise for its broadcast rights before the 2029 opt-out date in its contracts.
The NFL doesn’t play second fiddle to anyone. Thanks to its overwhelming popularity and dominance in the broadcast market, the league has long held unprecedented power when it comes to maximizing its revenue, and it may have a golden opportunity to do just that in the years to come. According to John Ourand of Puck, the NFL might approach its broadcast partners looking to renegotiate, even sooner than had previously been expected.
Key Details:
- Opening the door?: A contractual clause that will be triggered by the Paramount and Skydance merger could cause the NFL to ask broadcasters to renegotiate.
- Under the wire: If the NFL renegotiates before 2028, it will beat the MLB and NHL to market.
- Bye-bye, opt-out clause: Renegotiated agreements could negate the opt-out clause currently existing in NFL contracts.
According to Ourand, the NFL has a change-of-control provision in its contract with CBS that will be triggered once the Paramount and Skydance Media merger closes. That will allow the league to open its deal with CBS once again anytime within a two-year window following the official closing of the merger.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been keeping a close eye on the Skydance merger, though Ourand indicates there’s little danger of the league bolting from CBS. However, he also says that the NFL could decide to use the opportunity to approach all of its network partners about potentially renegotiating deals with them.
Under the proposed arrangement, the NFL would extend deals with partners like ABC and ESPN, CBS, Fox, NBC, and Prime Video for a year or two past their current 2033 expiration date in exchange for new financial terms. Critically for the networks, the 2029 opt-out clause currently included in those deals would be waived by the league.
There are a lot of steps that have to be taken before this option can officially be pursued, but it would make a ton of sense from the league’s perspective. Renegotiating deals by 2027 would allow the NFL to beat MLB and NHL to the market, since the deals for those leagues come up in 2028. That would give the NFL even more leverage in setting the market and maximizing its revenue by taking slices of the pie that would otherwise be earmarked for those other leagues.
Moving up the league’s next deal could also allow the NFL to carve out new packages of games to sell, and streaming services could be ready to pounce. The 2025 NFL schedule is seemingly optimized for streaming, and Netflix has had little to complain about in its deal to stream Christmas Day games so far. It would probably jump at the chance to get more NFL inventory, as would services like Prime Video and YouTube.
The NFL is always looking for ways to keep its edge, and it’s not going to let the NBA continue to beat its chest over the huge raise it got in its most recent rights negotiations for much longer. One way or another, the NFL will always try to come out on top, and that could mean asking its broadcast partners to negotiate their deals once again before 2028.
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