NFL Agrees Broadcast Deals With Amazon, Fox, NBC, ESPN And CBS
March 19, 2021
The NFL has signed long-term agreements with media partners Amazon, CBS, ESPN/ABC, FOX and NBC to distribute NFL games across television and digital platforms, along with additional media rights.
The agreements will commence at the start of the 2023 season and run through the 2033 season, broadening the league’s digital football to a larger audience while preserving its custom of keeping all NFL contests on over-the-air-television.
“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 statement. “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.”
The new agreement will also see the Super Bowl air on four networks.
From 2023 through 2033, three Super Bowls each will be hosted by CBS (2023, 2027, 2031), FOX (2024, 2028, 2032) and NBC (2025, 2029, 2033), while ABC (2026, 2030) will carry two.
Also part of the agreements will be an increased flexibility for Sunday Night Football and, now, Monday Night Football games in the aim to put the most meaningful games in prime-time slots. MNF did not previously flex games.
Kicking off in the first year of the agreement, Amazon Prime Video will become the exclusive home to Thursday Night Football.
“Most of our fans enjoy NFL football on TV or on their phone, but don’t get to go to the stadium. So having long-term really good partners who can bring football at a high-production value into your household or onto your phone or on your digital device is really important to us,” NFL chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp said Thursday on NFL Network’s NFL Total Access.
“And so when we started these discussions and had the chance to put in some long-term commitment with some really good partners, we worked really hard to do it and I think long-term means a lot of good football for fans for years to come.”
