In a couple of weeks, MLB and commissioner Rob Manfred will likely announce plans for their soon-to-be-vacant broadcasting rights agreements, which ESPN currently holds. ESPN currently has agreements with not only MLB, but also the NFL, NHL, and the NBA. With ESPN and MLB mutually announcing their opt-out of the current deal, this leaves the future of Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby, and the Wild Card round of the postseason in limbo.
According to a report on Tuesday from Yahoo Sports, Major League Baseball may soon find a solution to its short-term rights conundrum. The players involved for ESPN’s rights are NBC/Peacock, Netflix, and ESPN, with Apple reportedly losing the rights to Friday Night Baseball in the process.
On the surface, baseball fans may be asked to pay more while watching less. A trend that could accelerate once MLB finalizes new rights agreements for a higher dollar amount after the 2028 season. Streaming services are increasingly becoming the vessel for live sports, rather than traditional over-the-air networks. That raises a big question: could the NFL eventually follow suit?
Looking at the report surrounding MLB, the plan is to shift its Friday Night Baseball package from Apple to NBC and Peacock, while also adding Sunday Night Baseball and the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Netflix is interested in the Home Run Derby, while ESPN is reportedly interested in taking over the MLB.tv product. Which will open doors for the network to be involved in distribution for local markets.
If you bought AppleTV for Friday Night Baseball, you will move to Peacock. You enjoy dingers? Make the move from ESPN to Netflix. If you have an MLB.TV subscription, it may now have to be an ESPN direct-to-consumer package.
Remember when watching sports on television was simple? That’s what the NFL does best, for now.
Could the NFL Shift Their Stance
The NFL has an advantage that the NBA, NHL, and MLB simply don’t have: fewer games. Every NFL game is available on network television on over-the-air affiliates in local markets. FOX, CBS, and NBC have become a staple for weekly NFL action. ESPN and ABC put a majority of the Monday Night Football product on ABC for the season. The only outlier is Netflix with the Christmas Day package and Amazon Prime’s presentation of Thursday Night Football. However, the NFL ensures that local markets for the teams involved will have an over-the-air option to watch the game.
That’s important. With the NFL, you don’t have to pay to watch your local team—playoffs included.
The networks producing NFL broadcasts do a great job. They are not the issue; the problem is local television stations are facing a huge challenge with staying alive.
It’s no secret that streaming video has damaged the reach of local broadcast television stations. More than likely, that local television station has an affiliation with one of the networks that produce NFL broadcasts. If the local broadcast television station can no longer afford to stay on air, local markets could potentially lose the ability to watch their favorite NFL team.
Ask yourself: will a local CBS affiliate air FOX Sports games if the local FOX station closes? Could smaller stations afford the cost with reduced inventory to sell?
This is the quiet part out loud: the days of watching your local NFL franchise the way you always have will likely be changing. The NFL may tout its commitment to remain being seen on traditional over-the-air television, but they’re not blind to the times. The shifts in how products are viewed are changing, and the vessels in which they can be viewed are growing—but only online.
Times Are Changing, Will Goodell?
Local television affiliates are losing money and could potentially shut down. Networks will lose affiliation with those markets because of this. Streamers like Amazon, Netflix, and Paramount have the revenue streams due to shifts in audience habits and advertiser spending. They can bid the highest dollar for the most-watched product in America today—and probably by a larger margin compared to networks as each year passes.
Could the NFL cash in like the NBA did with its most recent rights deals? Could the NFL become home to Netflix, Prime Video, Peacock, and Paramount instead of FOX Sports, CBS Sports, and NBC Sports? Sure. Netflix is using CBS Sports’ production crew to produce the games on Christmas Day. Do you think Netflix will shy away from building its own infrastructure to put the NFL on the global map?
Roger Goodell runs a multi-billion-dollar company. He said he’s not competing against the NBA or MLB; he’s competing against Google and Apple. Those are digital companies with no reach in traditional over-the-air television. Goodell focuses on the future. He’s investing in ESPN and Paramount because they have positioned themselves to be players in the streaming future of the NFL. Could we see Netflix and Apple become more of a player with the NFL in the very near future along with NFL acquired properties?
The NFL is the last cash cow for local broadcast television stations. The amount of revenue your local television station makes on NFL broadcasts could be what’s keeping these stations alive in the first place. The NFL has interest in reach and influence. The more the NFL plays into investing in its future with streaming content companies, the less likely those broadcast television stations are to survive.
The NFL is in no position to lose here. They will continue to make money like they’re printing it, and people will flock to watch it wherever it may go.
The fan is the only one that loses. When everything around seems to become more expensive, sports are supposed to be the escape.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
