The twists and turns continue over the NFL’s five-game media rights package.
Just hours after Alex Sherman of CNBC reported that Netflix and YouTube were expected to split the four NFL game windows that ESPN relinquished as part of its deal to acquire NFL Network, John Ourand of Puck reported Thursday that YouTube “balked” at splitting the rights and now is not currently in position to acquire any of that inventory. The two games that would have gone to YouTube are instead being shopped by the NFL to its broadcast network partners.
Netflix is in line to get the other three windows, which when added to its existing Christmas Day doubleheader will expand its NFL inventory to five games. Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported earlier Thursday that Netflix will acquire the Week 1 NFL International Series game from Australia. Ourand reported only that Netflix is “likely” to get the Australia game, plus the league’s rumored Thanksgiving Eve contest and a window that does not appear to have been previously reported — a Saturday game leading into the annual ESPN/ABC Week 18 doubleheader.
Per Ourand, the NFL at the outset of negotiations presented bidders with 12 game windows from which they could choose five, confirming previous reporting by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. (The seven leftover game windows would comprise NFL Network’s inventory for the season.) Other windows that had been discussed as potential options included a Christmas Eve window and a second Black Friday game, and based on Ourand’s reporting, it would seem possible that those are among the windows the league is now shopping to broadcast networks.
YouTube was interested in the five-game package, but Netflix wanted to expand its deal beyond its current slate of two Christmas Day games per year, as previously reported by Jessica Toonkel and Joe Flint of The Wall Street Journal. Per Ourand, the only way to expand the Netflix slate was by using the inventory set aside for the five-game package, and the league proposed splitting a combined, seven-game package — including the Netflix Christmas games — between Netflix and YouTube.
YouTube “balked,” per Ourand, and though it remains in negotiations with the league, the two games it would have received are now being shopped to broadcast networks.
The broadcast network element would seem to explain earlier reporting by Sherman Thursday that the NFL would have a slight increase in games on broadcast television this coming season. Sports Media Watch has independently learned that the league is expected to have a slight increase in over-the-air games. (Marchand reported something similar Thursday, but characterized it as an increase in “nationally broadcast games” rather than games specifically on broadcast television.)
Fox, it should be noted, was previously mentioned by Florio as a contender for the five-game package. No other broadcast network has been linked to the games.
In the event that one of the broadcast networks acquires the two additional game windows, it could help mitigate any backlash over the league awarding the other three game windows to Netflix. The NFL is currently facing a federal investigation into its rights deals with streamers, part of a backlash against sports on streaming services that is being cheerled by Fox. The league has already awarded Fox one of the Christmas games that aired exclusively on streaming last season, marking the first time in three years that one of its Christmas games is set to air on broadcast television.
The league has publicly defended its streaming deals by noting that the overwhelming majority of its game windows air on broadcast television, and by suggesting that streaming services are comparable to — or even more widely distributed than — linear television. In a Vanity Fair profile published this week, league commissioner Roger Goodell described Netflix as arguably being “bigger than some of the networks,” and in a podcast published last month, league VP/broadcast planning Mike North suggested that moving the four ex-ESPN windows to streaming could be seen as “more fan-friendly.”
