There have been shortage of bold predictions when it comes to the future of sports media. Last week, Meadowlark Media boss John Skipper told The Dan Le Batard Show that he expects one of the biggest events on the industry’s calendar to experience a major sea change in the near future.
The former President of ESPN predicts that the NFL will move the Super Bowl to pay-per-view in the future. The NFL declined to comment on the prediction, but Joe Hand Jr of Joe Hand Promotions, a firm specializing in pay-per-view events for bars and restaurants, told Front Office Sports that a pay-per-view Super Bowl could easily shatter the record for the most viewed and ordered event in the space’s history.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao currently occupies that spot. The 2015 fight drew 4.6 million buys and generated $600 million.
Hand predicts that a Super Bowl on pay-per-view could command a $200 price tag. That certainly would be in line with Skipper’s reasoning that such a move could take place, which would be to “to replace the money someday.”
When will that day come? It won’t be for more than a decade. In its new round of TV contracts, signed last year, the NFL announced Super Bowl TV partners through 2034.
