NFL SECURE MASSIVE TV DEALS

The new deals for Sunday and Monday night packages will, say the NFL, allow it to reach a ‘broader audience on prime-time broadcast television’. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue confirmed an eight season deal with ESPN which will see it carry Monday Night Football from 2006-2013. The deal, according to reports, is estimated at a staggering $1.1bn a year – double the $550m ABC were paying. ESPN will continue to make its NFL games available on free, over-the-air television in the participating team markets each week. The new agreements continue the NFL's long-standing practice of making all of its games, including the playoffs and Super Bowl, available on free, over-the air television. ESPN also will continue to televise the NFL draft. The agreement with NBC is for six seasons from 2006 through 2011 for an annual package of 17 regular-season games consisting of 16 Sunday night games and the Thursday night season-opener, two playoff games on Wild Card Weekend, and three prime-time preseason games. It is estimated to be paying $600m a year - the same as ESPN previously paid. NBC also will televise two Super Bowls - Super Bowl XLIII in 2009 and Super Bowl XLVI in 2012 - and two AFC-NFC Pro Bowls. The new agreements will match the annual NFL all-star game with the network televising the Super Bowl each season. Said Tagliabue: "These agreements improve our television arrangements for fans. They underscore our unique commitment to broadcast television and our tradition of delivering our games to the widest possible audience. In the current media environment, Sunday is now the better night for our prime-time broadcast package.” Last November the NFL announced six-year extensions of its Sunday afternoon television packages with over-the-air broadcast partners CBS and FOX from 2006-2011. The NFL also announced then a five-year extension of an exclusive multi-channel agreement with the satellite service, DirecTV through 2010 to carry NFL Sunday Ticket – the league’s subscription TV package. The NFL's current television packages with CBS, FOX, ABC, and ESPN expire following the 2005 season.