Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

NFL-ESPN • League reopened deal to insert language about payment terms in the event of a lockout FO R MPAGE l confirmed th e talks late last week, saying th e two sid es were "fin a lizing a deal for s ignificantly expanded U.S. digital and international rights." The pending deal developed as the league opened ESPN's $1.1 billion annual contract to insert lan guage that outlined payment terms in the event of a lockout. The contract alre ady called for ESPN to make such payments , but the NFL wanted its lan guage to mirror previously agreed to contracts with CBS, Fox and NBC. Th e d igit al deal will give the Bristol, Conn .-based network the r ight to stream "MNF" game s via broadband, sources said. ESPN executives aren 't certa in wheth er they would exercise those r ights, even on its broadband site ESPN360. ESPN makes more than $4per subscr iber per month from cable an d satellite operators, an d ESPN is reluctant to put its hig hest -rated content on broadban d and risk devalu ing its linear TV deals with MSOs. For the past two seasons NBC Sports and the NFL have streamed th e "Sun day Night Football " gam e on NBCSports.com and NFL.com.The online feed has had limited success,while offeringa different viewing experience featuring mul tiple cam era angles an d inter activit y. ESPN will also stak e a bigclaim tothe mobile area,though several questions remain about the offer. It's unclear whether the NFL would allowESPNto stream its NFLcontent via a wire less carrier other than Verizon Wireless, which signed an extensive mobile content deal just two weeks ago that did not include ri ght s to "MNF. " "It might not be fully cooked," said Dallas Cowboys owner and NFL broadcast committee mem ber Jer ry J ones in response to a question about whether ESPN would be allowed to stream "MNF" to Verizon or other carriers. "I am not really sure th at I want to answer that r ight now." Even with ESPN as the intermediary.it's fbersol: Players should do TV interviews The new deal would allow ESPN to use NFL highlights on its main ESPN.com page, its local Web sites and to stream them to mobile devices. hard to believe the "MNF" rights won't end up on a Verizo n platfor m. "Th ey are our r ights to sell," sa id NFL spokes ma n Brian McCarthy. The cash bonan za the NFL recently realized by selling r ights to Verizo n in a $720 million deal shows there's increas ingvalue in mobile conte nt. 'After a deal of this magnitude gets done, every rig hts holder is lookin g closely to see if they can drive more revenue from th eir content," said Chr is Russo. chief executive of Fan tasy Sports Ventures and the former top medi a execut ive at the NFL. The proposed deal also gives ESPN mu ch broad er highlight rights. both onlin e and mobile.ESPN'so riginal deal gavethe media company limi ted hi ghli ght r ights, as the NFLhas sought to make NFL.com the major onl ine dest ination for such clips. The new deal would allow ESPN to us e highlights on its ESPN.com home page, its local Web sites and tostream them to mobile devices. It also will be able to stream games, th ough that part is st ill is tak ing sha pe. One of the biggest parts of th e deal is internationally, where ESPN will gain the rights totelevise its "MNF" game and "Monday Night Countdown" pregame show in the United Kingdom via its newly launched Britis h cable cha nn el, ESPN UK. "MNF" has not been telecast in Brita in for th e past several yea rs. Th is deal , however; marks th e first tim e in more than a With ESPN hav ing cleaned up the langua ge in its broadcast contract with th e u NFLto ensure that payments to the leag e cont in ue even during a possible lockout next year, every football bro adcaster is fully in th at cam p. This angers the union,which maintains that the networks are sidingwith management and financing the NFL's ability to lock out th e players next year when the collective-bargaining agreement expire s. As such, the NFL Players Association last week suggested it might withhold players from pre-production meeti ngs for broadcasts. "If Fox and CBSand NBC, for instance, are going to finance the lockout, why should we give th em free access to our decad e that a TV network othe r than Sky Spor ts will carry live NFL programming in Britain . Since2006,the league hasstreamed games overseas via "NFL Game Pass," a Sun day Ticket-style service that stream s all games for around $240 per seaso n. ESPN an d the NFL n egot iated thei r digital deal at the same time as the y both rework ed th e network 's "MNF" contract. The NFL looked to insert language into the dea l to ens ure paym ents continue in the event of a lockout. Sources have said that the twosets of talks were separate and are not related. The networks havesaid that they consider the paym ents loan s that will be pai d back by the league if games aren't played.At an industry conference earlier this month, Fox Sports' Ed Goren sa id, "It's not as if weare running a charity. We give every year.That mon ey comes back." players? " Mawae asked in an int erv iew with SI.com. "Weare taking a hard look at our players' availability for the networks that choose to pay the leagu e in th e event of a lockout." NBC Un iversal Sports an d Olympics Chairman Dick Ebersol, whos e network broadcasts "Sun day Night Football," said he is surpr ised by the players ' stance. "The only people who would be harmed by th is are the players," Ebersol said in a brief interview last week in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, site of th e NFLowners meeting. "In many cases, this is the way the public gets to kn ow th em, whether it is in a pregame show or th e shoulder programming." - Daniel Kaplan When asked if it was a loan, Goren replied emphatically, "With interest." NBC Un iversal Sports a nd Olympics Chairman Dick Eber sol also sai d that the relevant lan guage in the new TV contracts signed last year by NBC, Fox, DirecTV and CBS was no different than what's been in past contracts, questio ning th e furor over the network s guarant eeing payments. "I have been around longer than anybody else, an d I don't remember a deal, certainly all the way back to th e early 1980s, that th is wasn't in," he said. "Th is is not a new development." The broadcasters do get their money back with int erest if games aren't played. Th e one exception is DirecTV, which would not get all of its money back for games lost, with the reas on ingbeing that th e network is able to secure subscribers because of the NFL, and the loss of a few games would not materially harm th at income. Noise • New measures are a step by the league intended to boost the fan engagement at stadiums FO R MPAGEl It Up," "Let's Hear It! " an d "12th Man," or from creating visual noise meters. Team s are no longer so constrained but must cease these messages 15 seconds before the ball is snapped. "We probably would have wan ted to be more aggressive, but it is a step," sa id Step hen Jones, th e Dallas Cowboys' ch ief operating officer. "We want to make it a fun place for the fans to be,and [Commissioner I Roger [Goodell] pus hed this, and we will see how it works ." Jones sa id he would have preferred the video messages be allowed to run up to the snap. The new rules, wh ich th e eight-member competition comm ittee una ni mous ly approved, did n ot affect the league's no ise pr ohibiti ons. Teams still cannot pipe in artificial noise. The video restrictions were designed to prevent home teams from gaining an unfair competitiveadvantage.High-decibel crowds make it difficult for a visiting team 's offense to hear the calls at the line of scr immage. But Mark Waller;the NFL's chief marketing officer, said coach-to-quarterback electronic communicat ions, in place since 1994, have largely negated that issu e, "Some of th e no ise r ules we have had II I MARCH 29-APR IL 4 , 20 10 Teams will have more options to encourage their fans to pump up the volume. kind of stopped th e crowd getting as energeticall y engaged as we want th em to be," Waller sa id. The new r ules do include some pro hib itions, including videos showing opposi ng team hu ddles,opponent conferences in the bench area, or the opposing quarterback at the lin e of scrimmage. Previously, tea ms could show th is foota ge. Also, public address anno unce ments mus t now stop when the oppos ing team breaks its huddle, or if it's a no-huddle offense , when the team approaches the line of scrimmage . Goodell identified improving the in-stadium exper ience as one of three league priorities last week duringthe league's annual meeting, the oth er two being player safety and the ongoing labor talks, With advanced in-home en ter ta inment systems keeping more fans in the comfort of their homes,the www.sports businessjour nat.corn I Street NFL is creating incentives for cons umers to come to stadiums, In 2007, the league instituted a fan code of conduct, which led to teams implementing in-stadium text-messaging systems allowing spectators to alert stadium autho rities about misbehavior. Research the lea gue conducted demo nstrates that over the last few years there has been a low double-digit percentage incre ase in fan comfort in this re gard, Waller sa id. This year;the league will encourage teams to offer more stats, re plays an d h ighlight s of other games in th e stadium, Waller said. An effort being led by the Miami Dolph ins involves promoting handheld mobile devices that let fans watch high lights an d other games, But th e most immediate change is the liftin g of the ban on video-board messages promoting noise. "I am sure it will create a lit tle more instadium excitement," said Atlanta Falcons owner Art hur Blan k. Th e change did not require an owners vote becau se it did not cha nge in the rules of th e gam e. It puts the NFL more in lirie with how the other three top sports leagues - MLB, NHL an d th e NBA- allow video boards to be used for fan pro mpts . & Smith's SportsBusiness.JOURNAL J

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