NFL Announces New TV Deal

Amazon gets Thursday night games, NFL nearly doubles TV deal

March 18, 2021, 7:04 PM ET

Associated Press

Much like they did with cable in the 1980s and satellite television in the 1990s, the NFL on Thursday made another significant transition in the way its games are viewed.

The league's new rights agreements, worth $113 billion over the 11 seasons of the new deals that begin in 2023, include a streaming service receiving an exclusive full season package for the first time when Amazon Prime Video will be the home of 15 Thursday Night Football games.

“This is a seminal moment for the distribution of our content,” commissioner Roger Goodell said. “These deals remind me of back in the 60s, how NFL content and games were a big part of the broadcast TV growth, and then going into the 80s, with our first commitment to cable television, and then the '90s with our commitment to satellite television and our Sunday Ticket package. Im sure were going to look back on these deals the same way that we did back in the 1980s.”

“This provides our fans with greater access. We want to provide our games on more platforms than ever before.”

The new contracts also mean the NFL will nearly double its media revenue to more than $10 billion a season. The league took in $5.9 billion a year in its current contracts.

The total of $113 billion is an increase of 80% over the previous such period, a person with direct knowledge of the contracts told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the money figures were not made public.

Amazon has partnered with the league to stream 11 Thursday night games since 2017, but it will take over the entire package from Fox, which has had it since 2018. Amazon streamed a Week 16 Saturday game between the 49ers and Cardinals last year that was seen by an estimated 11.2 million total viewers and had an average minute audience of 4.8 million. That was the largest audience to stream an NFL game.

Over the last five years we have started the migration to streaming. This is another large step in this direction, said New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, chairman of the league's media committee. Our fans want this option and understand streaming is the future. We have created a unique hybrid of viewing options and streaming. This should provide a smooth transition to the future of content distribution.

Marie Donoghue, Amazon's vice president of global sports video, said the next couple seasons will be used to test certain things.

Our relationship with the NFL has been a process. It is incredible trust the league has put in us which is largely based on our track record with them, she said. It is a game changer for us. We are really excited for the innovative technologies and ways to serve fans.

Games on Amazon will also be carried on over-the-air broadcast stations in the cities of the participating teams, also the case with games aired on ESPN and NFL Network.

ABC gets back in the Super Bowl rotation with two games over the 11 seasons. ESPN gets some flexibility in its schedule on Monday nights, with the NFL agreeing to potentially move as many as five games from Sunday, and will have three doubleheaders, up from one.

The contract also expands digital rights for the other networks as well. ESPN+ will air one of the London games and NBCs Peacock platform will also have one exclusive game per season for six years beginning in 2023.

Games will continue to air on CBS, Fox, NBC as well as ESPN/ABC. ESPNs deal was scheduled to end after 2021, while the others expired a year later, but ESPN will have a bridge deal for 2022.

The new deals kick in with the 2023 season and expire after the 2033 schedule. The league was able to get a sizable increase despite ratings for regular-season games decreasing by 7% after two years of growth. The declines have been largely attributed to the coronavirus pandemic and a presidential election.

Even with declines, regular-season games last year averaged 15.6 million television and digital viewers, according to the league and Nielsen.

Here are other key points of the new contract:

INCREASED REVENUE: With the hefty new contracts the 32 NFL teams and their players can look forward to increased salary caps throughout the decade. The cap decreased by nearly $16 million this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The broadcast partners also figure to get an extra game per season, likely beginning this year. NFL owners are getting ready to implement a 17-game regular season. Goodell said discussions about the new schedule will be conducted during the owners meetings later this month with an announcement expected within the next three weeks.

The media deals have wrapped up a hectic 12 months for the league, which included completing a new labor agreement and having no games canceled in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

BIG WINNER: Without a doubt it is ESPN and ABC. Not only does ABC return to the Super Bowl rotation for the first time since the 2005 season, but it finally gets those flex scheduling options for Monday Night Football. That was a right only previously given to NBC when flex scheduling was introduced in 2006. ESPN's flex option will start in Week 12 and can be done on 12 days notice.

There will also be three weeks of multiple games, including two on Saturday in the final week of the regular season with playoff implications for the first time, and a divisional round playoff game to go with their wild-card weekend contest. The two Saturday games will begin this year as part of the bridge agreement.

While the other networks saw their rights fees double, Disney's increase came to 35%. It will still pay the most though as its contract averages $2.7 billion per season.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON STABILITY: Fox will remain the primary network for the NFC while CBS will have the AFC. Eric Shanks and Sean McManus, chairmen of the respective networks, said it was important to retain those unique identities.

Fox will average $2.25 billion a year and CBS' rights fees come to $2.1 billion. Both networks also have provisions for their streaming services: Tubi for Fox and CBS' Paramount+.

QUITE A COMBINATION: NBC's next four Super Bowls, beginning with next year's game in Los Angeles, will also come during the Winter Olympics, which was important to the network. Sunday Night Football has been the top-rated prime-time program since 2011.

NBC also retains the opening Thursday night NFL Kickoff game as well as a Thanksgiving night game and flex scheduling beginning in Week 5.

MORE ALTERNATE BROADCASTS: After the success of CBS doing a kids-friendly broadcast on Nickelodeon, and ESPNs MegaCast during the NFL playoffs, there will be an increase in alternate presentations. The networks will also have greater flexibility to use stats and integrated social feeds on their digital presentations. Amazon experimented with on-demand highlights and increased use of Next Gen stats during Thursday night games last season.

Green Bay Update — Jan/Feb 2021

Time for an offseason update from Green Bay, and specifically, the area around Lambeau Field as it relates to the Packers. Here we see the stadium in its February slumber among the neighboring houses, as seen from the southwest.

Your Packerville, U.S.A. editor, posing with some guy named Vince (didn't catch his last name) out in front of the Lambeau Field Atrium. Both of us are wearing team-supplied masks, although his has a much larger team logo. My mask is one of the two that the Packers sent to all season ticket holders. Tip: Cloth masks also make great face warmers when you’re walking around outside and taking photos of football-related matters.

Now, let’s take a look at the Titletown District construction. This view is from the vantage point of approaching the western construction site gate off Marlee Lane. The building on the left will be the commercial real estate and the building on the right will be residential apartments.

A closer view of the “130,000 square feet of mixed-use office space above retail and restaurant space” currently under construction.

A closer view of the “150 apartment building units” structure currently under construction. 

Another view of the residential structure with Lambeau Field to the east in the distance. The commercial and residential construction is on the western end of the Titletown District.

Now we see a frozen playground in the foreground, with some of the “70-90 townhomes available for ownership” which have been, and are currently being, constructed along the south edge of the Titletown District, along Brookwood Drive.

Above and below are more views of the townhomes in various stages of completion, facing the Titletown District football field.

Now we are looking at the apartments structure again, this time as viewed from the east, or more specifically, from the west end of the Titletown District football field.

A “pulled back view” of the apartments structure from the same location as the previous photo.

As you might imagine, there was no activity on the Titletown District football field on a weekday morning in February.

Another view of the west end of the Titletown District construction site.

Another view of the west end of the Titletown District construction site.

A view of the townhomes from across the football field, looking south.

Another view of the west end of the Titletown District construction site. The football field is to the left in this photo.

In case you forget where you are and need to get your bearings again.

A view of the townhomes from across the football field, looking south.

Now we shift our focus to construction projects on the other side of Lambeau Field. In today’s Green Bay Press Gazette, there was a small article on the “big dig” going on in the east side of the main stadium parking lot. This image accompanied their article.

(Photo: SARAH KLOEPPING/USA TODAY-WISCONSIN).

Well, if we wanted to do the same thing, we could just provide our readers with the same type of photo (seen here), pulled back a bit to show more of the construction site’s location. But that doesn’t depict what’s really going on.

At Packerville, U.S.A., we hope you expect more, and so we strive to go the extra mile and give you photos like this to show you exactly what the project entails. You can see Lambeau Field behind the construction, with the Johnsonville Tailgate Village extending towards the right edge of the photo. The two buildings are perpendicular to each other, and the giant hole being dug backs up to S. Oneida Street, which runs north and south along the eastern edge of stadium property.

The project is a relocation of a 400,000-gallon wastewater surge tank that was originally installed during stadium renovations in 2003. The original tank is the one in which a construction worker told us they installed a sign that reads “Vikings Locker Room.” Let’s hope that continues with this new tank!

An action shot of a dump truck being loaded.

Here is the construction fencing along S. Oneida Street.

The construction as viewed from across S. Oneida Street.

The Resch Expo building is complete and has recently hosted a boat show and a bridal show. This building sits at the northeast corner of Armed Forces Drive and S. Oneida Street, and the city and Packers hope it will figure into the equation of Green Bay being awarded the NFL Draft soon.

It also created a problem (and added costs) for the Packers which will be explained in a minute. See how the Resch Expo has a second level? Hold that thought...

Shouldn’t legendary Packers’ QB Bart Starr be treated better? Just sayin'...

As we look ahead to the summer, we hope to be walking up these steps in a few months to watch Packer Training Camp practices. Well, no, not not with snow on them obviously. Last year I watched zero practices for the first time since 1988 because of the dreaded pestilence. I want to again attend every practice at training camp. How do we all give that a better chance of happening? WEAR YOUR DANG MASK AND GET YOUR VACCINE WHEN AVAILABLE.

There is also no snow here in the summertime during camp. Although there are many super hot days when a little snow would be welcomed.

O.K., now back to the Resch Expo and the Packers. All of these tall black posts are new since last fall. Because the new expo center has a second level, the Packers were concerned about potential spying occurring during in-season practices on either Clarke Hinkle Field or Ray Nitschke Field practices.

You see, during training camp, fans and media are allowed to watch practices. But, during the regular season, the green tarps go up on all fencing around the practice field being used and no viewing of the goings-on are allowed. The media is also restricted in their access.

So, because of the construction of the Resch Expo and that second level, these tall posts were added. What do these posts do, you ask?

These last photos are from January 14, 2020 in the days prior to the NFC Divisional game against the Los Angeles Rams.

To block any view of practice from the new Resch Expo, the Packers now raise black screens while the team is using the field(s).

Here we see media members leaving practice while the team continues with their preparatory work before the playoff game.

A closer view of the screens from a different angle.

This shows the traditional green tarps on the practice fields once preparations for the regular season starts.

We’ll end with a shot from video showing the field scoreboards in use during Packers practice sessions, and the black screens as they appear from inside. This is what you’d see while waiting at the stoplight in the northbound lane on S. Oneida Street. Thanks for visiting. Stop by again during the offseason.

2021 NFL Awards

Congratulations to QB Aaron Rodgers and former Packers’ CB/S Charles Woodson on their awards last night at the 2021 NFL Honors. Rodgers, to no one’s surprise, took the NFL MVP (Most Valuable Player) Award for his performance in the 2020 season. Woodson was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the entirety of his career (Oakland, 1998-2005, Green Bay 2006-2012, Oakland 2013-2015). He played longer for Oakland, but he won a championship in Green Bay.

Here is the entire 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

The Packers Thank Us

NFC Championship — Bucs at Packers

Well, that was as painful as an NFC Championship game loss could be. Maybe more than the 2015 game at Seattle. Instead of ranting on for several paragraphs, I'll just boil it down to a few words: Disappointing. Inexcusable. Questionable Coaching. Wasted Opportunity. Choke. Embarrassment. Are we the Vikings or Bills of the NFC Championship Game in the last seven years? The Packers had a Patriots'-like opportunity to win five Super Bowls in Rodgers’ career so far (and ironically, several of those chances would’ve been against New England). The Packers set themselves up with everything they wanted for this game, and then... the same result. Again.

And what do we think of Aaron Rodgers' future in Green Bay after this? Much analysis of that is going on now with his demeanor and comments after the game. If he wants to leave and finish his career elsewhere, the questions are all financial involving salary cap hits, etc., but anything can happen. At this point, who knows. All we do know is that this team cannot reach the Super Bowl no matter what they do. And that will sit and fester with Packers fans for decades.

NFC Championship Game Weather

Buccaneers vs. Packers Game Program

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and even with several thousand fans at the stadium for the past two weeks, the Packers have produced no printed game programs this season. But, they have provided digital versions for all to enjoy free of charge. Here is the cover for tomorrow's NFC Championship Game vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You can view the entire program here.

Hopefully, there will be actual programs in the future for those of us who have collected one from every Packers game they have attended. For me, that’s 168 games... and programs.