Fox Forks Over $3 Billion for 'Thursday Night Football' Rights
Posted in: Uncategorized
Fox on Tuesday confirmed that it has supplanted CBS and NBC as the broadcast partner of the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” package, inking a five-year deal sources say carries a hefty $3 billion price tag.
In picking up the rights to the second highest-rated program in primetime, Fox is on the hook to fork over some $600 million a year, or around $150 million more than CBS and NBC collectively paid out in each year of their joint contract with the league. And in a departure from the NFL’s unofficial policy of doling out short-term leases on the Thursday night games, Fox’s stewardship of the weeknight window will extend through 2022which is when the existing Sunday afternoon and Sunday night deals are set to expire.
Under terms of the new pact, Fox will air 11 “Thursday Night Football” games each season, a format that effectively replicates last season’s bifurcated broadcast package. The 11 Fox games will be simulcast on NFL Network and streamed by an as-yet unidentified digital player. (Facebook is said to have passed on the opportunity to bid on the streaming rights.)
Post a Comment