The stakes are high and the battle is pitched as NFL rights come up at the negotiating table. The New York Post is reporting NBC is in a major fight as it hopes to keep the diamond that is “Sunday Night Football.”
NBC has been pushing SNF for its 15th anniversary of acquiring the rights to the game that completes the Sunday schedule. The Peacock is going to have to dig way deep if it wants to continue having the contests once current deals expire.
NEWS: Disney/ABC/ESPN in billion dollar battle with NBC for Sunday Night Football, The Post has learned.https://t.co/noDJLHfhwV
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) November 2, 2020
A billion-dollar battle for “Sunday Night Football” is emerging between incumbent NBC and Disney/ABC/ESPN as the NFL moves toward agreements on its new TV deals that could be completed by the end of the year, The Post has learned.
It has been known for a long time that Disney/ABC/ESPN would be very aggressive for more NFL, the most valuable programming in television. As far back as early 2019, there was buzz about ABC wanting a Super Bowl.
However, according to sources, it is more than that as the pitch Disney is making to the NFL is that it currently pays the most so it deserves the best prime-time regular-season schedule.
On top of that, according to officials familiar with the negotiations, Disney/ABC/ESPN wants to acquire two separate NFL packages.
At the moment, ESPN spends $2 billion per year for an inferior Monday Night schedule and no Super Bowls, while NBC writes a check for a mere $950 million for Sunday Night, which includes flexible scheduling.
The report suggests if SNF moved from NBC, it would turn up on ABC rather than ESPN, In such a scenario, NBC would still be in play for Monday or Thursday night action. Both Disney and NBC could try for Fox and CBS’ Sunday afternoon packages.
ESPN’s current “Monday Night Football” deal concludes after next season, while NBC, CBS and FOX’s NFL TV contracts will be completed following the 2022-23 Super Bowl.