Changes may be on the horizon for Thursday Night Football. In other news, NBC and ESPN will begin streaming primetime NFL games on mobile phone devices, ESPN’s Ryen Russillo is leaving the network, and ESPN’s Lisa Salters has double-duty on Christmas.
NFL Could Sell TNF to Streaming Outlet
The NFL is open to selling Thursday Night Football rights to a digital outlet, according to the request for proposal the league sent prospective bidders, Sports Business Daily reported Thursday. The NFL has never before sold a package of games to a streaming outlet. Amazon currently has live streaming rights for Thursday night games, but the games are televised on traditional broadcast and cable outlets.
The league is reportedly open to other changes, including moving more games off of Thursday night or adjusting the overall number of games in the package (currently 18). It is also asking bidders to come up with new technological and commercial advancements for the package. The deadline for bids is early next month. [Sports Business Daily 12.22]
NBC, ESPN, to Begin Streaming NFL on Mobile
With Verizon relinquishing exclusive NFL mobile rights as part of its new agreement with the league, NBC and ESPN have acquired rights to begin streaming their primetime NFL packages on mobile devices. ESPN will begin streaming to phones on Wild Card weekend, while NBC’s announcement indicated it would not do so until next season. Previously, the outlets could only stream games on TV and tablet devices. [NBC PR 12.18, ESPN PR 12.20]
Russillo Leaving ESPN
ESPN Radio host Ryen Russillo announced this week that he will leave the company at the end of the summer. Russillo, who had been with ESPN since 2006, hosted the last edition of his radio show on Friday and will spend the remaining months of his ESPN tenure hosting his podcast. He had a tumultuous year, first having to dispute rumors that he was included in ESPN’s massive layoffs in April, and then arrested on a misdemeanor criminal trespass charge in August. [The Big Lead 12.20]
Salters Pulling Christmas Double
ESPN reporter Lisa Salters will work both Sixers-Knicks in New York and Raiders-Eagles in Philadelphia on Christmas Day, becoming the fourth on-air broadcaster to pull a Christmas doubleheader in recent years. Michele Tafoya worked a Lakers-Heat and Jets-Dolphins game for ESPN/ABC in 2006, and Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy called a pair of games on Christmas 2011 and 2012. [ESPN PR 12.20]
