Off the top of my head, I don’t recall the last time I missed an NFL playoff game. I’m sure I have, maybe because I had another pressing matter, but not because I decided not to watch one, at least until this weekend. During “Super Wild Card Weekend” 2024, the NFL, along with NBC, made a decision that should concern all sports fans. For the first time, an NFL playoff game was available only on a paid streaming service – Peacock.
Making a playoff game exclusively available on a paid streaming service that is not widely subscribed to (especially by those most likely to be NFL fans – numbers provided later) is insulting to those of us who watch every playoff game and especially those who make playoff football a social experience with friends and family.
If the NFL and NBC wanted to use a playoff game to get fans to tune in to Peacock, the correct action was to make Peacock free to everyone, if only for the game, even if it required signing up for emails or texts.
I found the promos that NBC ran the week before the Peacock game particularly offensive. They bragged about the historic nature of the game – a playoff game only on a streaming service. While it may have been historic for the NFL and NBC/Peacock, the promos failed to mention any benefit for the fan.
How does being forced to sign up for an additional streaming service that a viewer probably didn’t want or need just to watch one game benefit the NFL fan who simply wanted to watch a playoff game on a cold Saturday night in January?
If I’d considered signing up for Peacock, at least long enough to watch the game, those promos turned me off enough to ensure I didn’t.
I already subscribe to several paid services, including Amazon Prime, which has allowed me to watch Thursday Night Football throughout the season, and the NFL app, which has allowed me to see many games unavailable on OTA or cable TV throughout the past few seasons.
Because I bought a lifetime subscription to Sirius back when the satcaster launched and offered those plans, I could listen to the Chiefs routed the Dolphins in one of the coldest games in NFL history. However, on principle, and because the promos for the game were so insulting, I wasn’t willing to submit to the NFL and Peacock’s extortion – not even for a trial plan, which I would need to remember to cancel hopefully before getting charged.
The major sports leagues have increasingly watered down their rights and spread their games across more and more distribution channels over the past five-plus years. MLB added games to Apple TV. The NFL put games exclusively to Amazon Prime, its own NFL Network, and several other examples.
Several sources estimate the NFL revenues to be $18.6 billion in 2022. A CNBC report suggests broadcast revenues, including ABC/ESPN, CBS, NBC, and Amazon, are nearly $10 billion annually.
The more the NFL agrees to broadcast deals with subscription-based streamers, such as Amazon Prime, and especially playoff games with streamers like Peacock, the more they exclude fans who cannot afford an endless number of streaming services to view the games.
Extend this across all the streaming deals each league has, the cable, and the regional sports network fees, and it’s become insanely expensive to be a sports fan.
A reported 23 million watched the broadcast on the streaming service. But will viewership of the Kansas City-Miami game be comparable to other playoff games over the weekend?
How many people decided to forgo watching a game rather than signing up for a streaming service they previously didn’t subscribe to? More importantly, if there is a spike in subscriptions, how many will continue in the long term?
Peacock has used sports to juice its numbers before. During Comcast’s second-quarter 2021 earnings call, CEO Brian Roberts claimed Peacock had 54 million subscribers. Those numbers were on the heels of the Tokyo Olympic games.
As of the third quarter 2023, Peacock had about 28 million subscribers in the United States, according to Statista – barely 50% of what Peacock had after the Olympics, where most high-profile events were available, even if delayed, on OTA or cable television.
Further, according to research from Zippia (February 2023), a higher percentage of older demographics, particularly Baby Boomers, say they are unlikely to subscribe to Peacock (67%).
It’s understandable why NBC would want to make a deal like this for its Peacock streaming service. But the NFL must think long-term and be more considerate to its fans. Whatever additional revenue the league received for agreeing to the Peacock exclusive playoff game may cost more fan goodwill over the long run.
Without a doubt, revenue provided by the broadcast networks is critical to the NFL’s business model and other sports leagues. However, without fans, there are no ginormous broadcast contracts.
Although I am not suggesting that one playoff game exclusively on Peacock is going to chase fans from the NFL, I do believe that if the sports leagues continue to become excessively greedy at the expense of fans and make it costly to impossible for working people who struggle these days simply to lay out a nice spread for friends to enjoy while watching a game; eventually, it will test the loyalty and the leagues will find out where the limits are.
If I were the NFL commissioner, I would never have agreed to a deal that placed a playoff game exclusively on a paid streaming service. Let’s hope it’s a mistake that the NFL doesn’t repeat and that the other leagues notice.
Andy Bloom is president of Andy Bloom Communications. He specializes in media training and political communications. He has programmed legendary stations including WIP, WPHT and WYSP/Philadelphia, KLSX, Los Angeles and WCCO Minneapolis. He was Vice President Programming for Emmis International, Greater Media Inc. and Coleman Research. Andy also served as communications director for Rep. Michael R. Turner, R-Ohio. He can be reached by email at andy@andybloom.com or you can follow him on Twitter @AndyBloomCom.
Andy Bloom nailed it. The NFL is beheading its golden goose.