ESPN, whose parent company Walt Disney is under pressure from Wall Street for falling subscribers and its sports programming costs, won’t enter the hotly contested bidding for the National Football League’s Thursday night games, according to people with knowledge of the bidding process.
The NFL, which is expected to announce winning bidders as early as this week for an eight-week package of games, received proposals from CBS and Twenty First Century Fox’s Fox network in bidding that is expected to exceed the $300 million per season that CBS paid to carry the evening’s games the past two seasons.
The NFL asked bidders in December to submit offers for the entire package and an alternative arrangement in which two bidders would share the eight game slate, CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said during a presentation to television critics on Jan. 12. The league-owned NFL Network would carry all 16 Thursday night games, some of them exclusively.
One figure being floated was $400 million for entire eight-game package, whether it is awarded to a single network or shared. The decision is expected by the Feb. 7 Super Bowl.
An ESPN spokesman had no comment but others familiar with ESPN thinking said Disney’s sports channel is comfortable with its flagship Monday Night Football program, which just finished its 45th season, and that the parent company was happy with the current Thursday night prime-time lineup of its sister ABC broadcast network.
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Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
