Fred Toucher thinks the NFL and streaming platforms are pushing their luck. The 98.5 The Sports Hub host warned Friday that adding games on more days would be a giant mistake.
What We Know: Toucher made the comments Friday on Toucher & Hardy following the New England Patriots loss on Thursday Night Football on Prime Video. Meanwhile, the league already spreads games across CBS, FOX Sports, NBC, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. In fact, Netflix grew to five games this season, including a new Thanksgiving Eve matchup. While discussing the Patriots matchup, Toucher turned the conversation inward as the upcoming rights talks with the NFL will be front and center for many of the league’s network partners.
What They Said: (all quotes via 98.5 The Sports Hub):
Fred Toucher doesn’t understand why any network or streaming services pays what they do for the NFL: “I don’t know every reason why networks pay so much for [NFL] football. It’s not because of the eyeballs on it. It goes beyond that. They don’t make enough in ad revenue to justify the cost. They lose money if you just go buy ad revenue to spending. I know the streaming services don’t pick up enough subscribers to like level out the amount that they’ve spent… I believe that the return on investment in advertising and the usefulness of the NFL. If it’s an everyday thing, is going to go out the window.”
Fred Toucher says any streaming service should be careful about adding NFL games on different days: “If I have a new streaming service and I want the NFL, Monday, Thursday, and Sunday’s taken. Okay, what do you got? Something around Thanksgiving? No, we’re thinking of starting Tuesday night football, and we want you to be the streaming service. Honestly, I’ll wait. Because I don’t want to be the service that is the tipping point for people when they just start getting pissed.”
Fred Toucher believes any streamer adding games on non traditional NFL days is making a mistake: “It is that Sunday sport. If you’re not doing it just based on entirely on ad revenue, if I’m a streaming service, I don’t want to be the service that has it on Tuesday. That almost ends up being like a net negative. I don’t want to be the service that is getting the product that is the tipping point.”
Fred Toucher believes if the NFL adds more days to the regular season schedule, it would be a mistake: “If on a weekly basis or even a semi-regular basis you’re going to have [NFL] games every day of the week. I believe that is a massive, massive mistake.”
What Remains Unclear: However, the NFL has pushed its partners to renegotiate early. Still, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said the network won’t amend its deal before the opt-out window while the league reportedly has held talks with CBS Sports. For now, where the league adds future inventory remains an open question.
What It Means: Ultimately, Toucher’s argument comes down to oversaturation. Already, this season features games on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Consequently, Tuesday is about the only night left. If Toucher is right, the next streamer to claim it could pay the price.
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