The NFL announced a new 11-year broadcast agreement Thursday, in an unprecedented partnership with its usual television partners as well as a new emphasis on digital platforms.
Per Sports Business Journal, the league will collect $10 billion annually, a figure the league would neither confirm nor deny.
The biggest changes: Thursday night games will now be the exclusive domain of Amazon Prime, and DirecTV's Sunday Ticket will no longer be part of the package.
ABC will also enter the Super Bowl rotation, though "Monday Night Football" will continue to be aired on ESPN. Fox retains the league's NFC package, and CBS will keep the AFC package.
The agreement will begin with the 2023 season and run through 2033.
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"These new media deals will provide our fans even greater access to the games they love. We're proud to grow our partnerships with the most innovative media companies in the market," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a press release.
"Along with our recently completed labor agreement with the NFLPA, these distribution agreements bring an unprecedented era of stability to the League and will permit us to continue to grow and improve our game."
Aside from the commitment to Amazon, the league will offer content, including varying levels of game action, to its partners' streaming platforms – ESPN+, Paramount+ (CBS), Tubi (Fox) and Peacock (NBC).
NBC will continue to broadcast "Sunday Night Football," the league's marquee game in most weeks. ABC will begin airing select regular-season games, and the league will also have increased ability to flex both Sunday night and Monday night games.
The Super Bowl schedule going forward looks like this:
► CBS: 2023, 2027, 2031
► FOX: 2024, 2028, 2032
► NBC: 2025, 2029, 2033
► ESPN/ABC: 2026, 2030
The NFL touted the fact that it continues to be the only sports league that delivers all of its games – regular-season and playoffs – on free, over-the-air television.
On a conference call with media members, Goodell said the NFL's new emphasis on digital platforms is a "seminal moment" for distribution of league content.
Goodell did not directly answer when the NFL plans to expand the regular season, though it is expected to increase to 17 games, perhaps in 2021, after the league and NFL Players Association agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement last year that runs through 2030.
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