ESPN and the NFL ended months of speculation by announcing a deal that extends the Monday Night Football rights package through 2021. It is believed that the eight year deal is worth $15.5 billion, or slightly less that $2 billion per year.
The current deal was set to run through 2013 and was worth $1.1 billion. The deal grants ESPN additional broadband rights for its ESPN.com and ESPN mobile platforms, increased international rights along with leverage to stream MNF and all NFL studio programming via its WatchESPN app.
Currently, ESPN’s MNF has ad sales adding up to around $175 million with the lightest of all NFL broadcast loads. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that extensions are in the works with NBC, CBS and Fox, where again all three broadcast contracts run through 2013; NBC’s Sunday Night Football deal is worth $603 million per year, CBS’ national package comes in at $619.8 million while Fox ponies up $257.1 million per season for its Sunday afternoon package.
It seems unlikely that ABC (owner of ESPN) will pony up for the Thursday night package. Right now, Turner Sports, NBC Universal and Fox Sports’ FX are the frontrunners for the eight-game bundle, which could go for over $600 million per year, with bidding on the new package expected to begin in earnest later in September.
Source: AdWeek
