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America’s most popular sport has become expensive and frustrating to consume.
NFL fans who want to access every game need YouTube TV for “NFL Sunday Ticket,” along with costly subscriptions to Amazon Prime, Peacock and Netflix. All the packages cost fans well over $1,500 a year combined, and that doesn’t include fees associated with basic cable packages that many Americans still subscribe to or high-speed Wi-Fi needed to accommodate the streamers.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr has made it a point of emphasis to help American sports fans as the NFL, along with the NBA, MLB and other major sports, have moved key games from broadcast and cable television to costly streaming services.
Last month, the FCC announced it would seek public comments on the ongoing shift of live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services. The comment period runs through March 27 and replies to the comments are due April 13.
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Carr has suggested it’s simply too expensive and inconvenient for consumers to watch their favorite teams, and while he understands the argument that streaming opens more games and more content, he believes the cons outweigh the pros for most fans.
“Americans are frustrated when they sit down and can’t find the game they want to watch. And that feeling grows only worse when they realize that they might need to sign up for another streaming service to watch the game,” Carr told Fox News Digital.
“There has long been a strong and mutually beneficial relationship between sports leagues and broadcasters, and consumers will benefit if that continues,” Carr continued. “I want to see Americans continue to benefit from free over-the-air sports programming.”
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But as Carr is concerned that streaming games are maddening for sports fans, the media industry appears well aware the trend will continue.
The issue particularly impacts the NFL, as the most popular sport in the country has reopened its rights deal with Paramount and CBS. Popular Hollywood-focused podcast “The Town” dedicated an episode to the “NFL’s billion-dollar cash grab” on Wednesday.
“We all know how important sports rights have become to the entertainment and media companies. For the linear TV business, it’s basically sports, and to a lesser extent news, driving audiences and not much else. For the streaming services looking to lure new subscribers, nothing generates a sign-up better than an exclusive, premium sports event,” host Matt Belloni told listeners.
“But where is that tipping point? The level at which sports rights become so expensive that the traditional outlets can no longer justify the cost, and the streaming players fully take over?” Belloni continued. “A huge test of this theory is what’s going on with the NFL right now.”
CBS’ contract with the NFL has a “change of control” provision that will be triggered by Skydance Media’s pending takeover of parent company Paramount. CNBC’s Alex Sherman recently reported that the NFL and CBS “are negotiating a price increase, with a bid-ask spread midpoint around 50% or 60%” to keep Sunday games on CBS.
Sherman noted that CBS “currently pays around $2.1 billion a year, on average, for its Sunday afternoon games,” and a 50% increase could force CBS to shell out more than $3 billion for its new deal. In exchange for the extra cash, the NFL would eliminate an opt-out clause after the 2029-30 season that would have allowed the league to cut ties with CBS early. The current deal runs through 2033.
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Sherman, who was a guest on “The Town” to discuss the ordeal, said the NFL doesn’t want to put CBS “out of business,” because the result would be fewer companies bidding on its product in the future. But the NFL is well aware that CBS and other companies need its content to survive and will squeeze out as much revenue as possible.
As the negotiations take place, Sherman noted that broadcast executives are peeved that the NFL has given Amazon very attractive games often featuring marquee matchups for its “Thursday Night Football” streaming package. Whenever a highly coveted game airs on Amazon or other streamers, it diminishes the quality of the matchups Americans can access on broadcast networks.
Sherman said that the league “rewarded Amazon” with better games when it proved there was an audience for the NFL on a streaming service, but Belloni suggested that the league simply has to play nice with Amazon incase streaming completely upends linear consumption down the road.
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Carr has also highlighted that the partnership between broadcasters and sports rights has helped fund local news and journalism, as sports helps drive revenue to local stations that many Americans rely on. The Trump-appointed FCC boss feels that the relationship could be undermined if leagues continue to ditch local broadcasters for streaming services that are behind costly paywalls. The same theory could weaken entertainment offerings as networks like CBS will be forced to cut other spending to fork over more cash to the NFL.
“Something probably needs to give here, and it’s not going to be the NFL,” Sherman said.
The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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