A lot of people, including the NFL, will be opening presents this Christmas. And there’s a very good chance they’ll open the most expensive present of all.
The NFL plans to auction off media rights for two Christmas Day games, Front Office Sports (FOS) reports.Bid intention start For $50 million.
“The league plans to open bids to all media partners, according to sources including CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN-ABC and Amazon Prime Video,” FOS said. report. “Together, these large media companies will pay $110 billion to the NFL by 2033.
“The game is more likely to be shown on a terrestrial television network than on a streaming platform, sources said.”
The NFL did very well last year when it came to streaming prices. Peacock paid $110 million to stream a frigid playoff matchup between the Chiefs and Dolphins. Prime spent $100 million to feature the league’s first Black Friday Jets vs. Dolphins game.
Kansas City Chiefs’ No. 15 Patrick runs with the ball during the first half of the AFC Wild Card Playoff game against the Miami Dolphins at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on January 13, 2024.・Mahomes. (David Urit/Getty Images)
The cost of broadcasting a Christmas Day game is expected to be significantly higher than a Black Friday game.
“Exclusive streaming rights to NFL playoff games have come at a premium price,” said former ESPN executive John Costner. “While the NFL’s Christmas Day/Night games draw large crowds and are growing more and more, regular season games are scheduled seven months in advance. And traditionally, Christmas Day advertising The market is not that robust.”
Costner predicts the Christmas games will sell for $75 million to $100 million each.
The NFL gave football-hungry spectators three games last Christmas. All three games were great, with Chiefs vs. Raiders and Giants vs. Eagles each averaging over 29 million viewers. The Ravens and 49ers both had strong scores of over 27 million late in the game.
Miami Dolphins No. 8 Jevon Holland throws an interception 99 yards from New York Jets No. 7 Tim Boyle during the second quarter of a game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Nov. 24, 2023. scored a touchdown. Jersey. (Mike Stove/Getty Images)
NFL executives initially had some reservations about playing games on Christmas Day due to the fact that Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year. But the exorbitant media rights fees they could charge seem to have persuaded them.
Traditionally, the NBA has owned Christmas Day. But while the NFL generated an average of nearly 30 million viewers last Christmas, the NBA only drew 2.86 million viewers over five games.
In other words, the NBA no longer owns Christmas Day and is not actually invited to Christmas.
