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Will NFL TV Deals Salvage the Steelers Salary Cap?

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The question of the Pittsburgh Steelers and their future with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, as well as many other players, seems to get heightened every day as the new league year on March 17, 2021 approaches. Roethlisberger will be due a $15M roster bonus on March 19 and things really could come down to the wire.

What we know: The NFL has already increased the salary cap to $180M from $175M, and there is speculation that it could go higher. Many estimates have this going as high as $185 with substantial increases in 2022 and 2023.

But what does that does that mean towards the Steelers receiving additional cap relief for 2021?



For those who prefer TL;DR – scroll to the bottom.


For details, read on:

The NFL is in discussions with its current four existing network partners: Comcast (NBC), Viacom (CBS), FOX, and Disney (ESPN/ABC) with hopes of completing negotiations on new TV deals before the start of the league year on March 17, 2021. The ESPN/Monday Night Football deal expires after 2021 and DirectTV has made it clear it will not continue hosting NFL Sunday Ticket (and its $1.5B price tag) past 2021 either. The NFL is seeking to finalize deals with all their primary broadcast partners before their deals expire in 2022. While tech giants Amazon, Apple, Google and Netflix all have shown interest, the NFL is does not appear ready to go full streaming (although it may have no choice with Sunday Ticket) and may be more comfortable with the existing partnerships they have, although a shake-up is inevitable. Amazon already has a partnership with the NFL and is interested in Sunday Ticket, NBC and ABC may have a bidding war over Sunday Night Football and the conferences may change between FOX and CBS.

Historically speaking, the NFL has proven reluctant to lay out their financial data, but it has been reported the NFL is facing a loss of between $2B to $4B from the 2020 season. Take that with the grain of salt that it is, we will never know for certain. What they do have is a 10-year labor agreement and even in the face of decreased ratings the NFL provided the highest rated broadcasts of 2020. What they are seeking is in effect a 100% increase for the right to broadcast games, something that seems in line for NBC, CBS and FOX. ESPN is another matter.

The landscape has changed drastically for ESPN since they agreed to a 10-year/$152B package to air Monday Night Football in 2011. At the time, ESPN was rapidly growing, and it was the place to tune into for scores and insight. The $1.9B per year deal was nearly twice what any of the other networks paid for because it included the video and highlights rights, the NFL Draft and the Pro Bowl, which were meant to help sustain their numerous programs and platforms — but are nowhere close worth to the same value as they once were.

Today, day-to-day sports coverage can be found through an app or platforms that give better insight than ESPN can as many of these platforms give better insight to their favorite teams and do so much faster. That additional value decreased almost as fast as the subscriber base has declined.

ESPN.jpg

Business Insider


ESPN peaked at 100M subscribers (66% of their revenue) in 2011 and the math pretty much shows that they were only charging $4.69 per subscriber. Simple rounded math: $4.69 x 12 months x 100M subscribers = $5.63B in subscription revenue. By 2017, subscriptions had dropped by 13M, with ESPN raising subscription rates to $7.21 to offset lost subscriptions for $7.55B revenue. To put into context, a cable package in 2017 with ESPN and additional ESPN-brand channels was the most expensive channel in a package. It cost almost $10/month versus majority of other cable channels that fell into a Rough of Magnitude of $1.00 to $2.00. These rising costs can be attributed to the large deals to air other sports content to offset the decreasing subscriptions:

  • College Football/Basketball: $2.0 Billion
  • NFL: $1.9B
  • NBA $1.4B
  • MLB: $700M
  • Other > $2.0B

This 2017 Data showed that ESPN sports contracts reached $8B, with subscription revenue at $7.55B = $45B difference. The traditional cable subscriber base has only continued to dwindle in recent years:

ESPN sub losses continue to accelerate — now down 6% year-over-year $DIS

Sports media needs a new biz model pic.twitter.com/nTLxWeANCq

— Rich Greenfield, LightShed (@RichLightShed) August 5, 2020




Just glancing at the data, it has been little wonder why the once 5,000+ employed ESPN has drastically reduced staff over the last decade:

  • November 2020: 500 jobs (300 layoffs, elimination of 200 open positions)
  • April 2017: 200 layoffs
  • October 2015: 300 layoffs



Number crunching aside, the future of the NFL and ESPN is a very unclear direction. While overall in good financial health, I am betting Disney does not love the future of traditional ESPN. When you consider decrease in value of the rights that it paid for a decade ago, no playoff games or Super Bowls and the lackluster draw of what currently constitutes Monday Night Football, it does not take much to understand why.

Here is where it gets interesting: Disney is still the biggest conglomerate NFL partner and is highly vested in ESPN+ entry into the streaming market. Per their Q1 earnings report: ESPN+ has seen a significant increase in subscriptions since December 2019 (6.6M) to January 2021 (12.1M) with an insignificant increase in revenue as earnings are offset by the higher sports programming costs as well as unclear ties to subscriber totals are related to bundle packages vs. stand-alone subscriptions.

Disney has made no secret that it is aiming at supplanting Direct TV for the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket and place it on ESPN+ in addition to a Super Bowl on ABC. Timing is a lot of things in life and if these negotiations were happening five years ago, it might have been easier on the NFL. Under the previous leadership of CEO Bob Iger, Disney had a growth by acquisition strategy (Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox and Pixar) with deals easily in the billions and faced some scrutiny by financial experts. While that strategy appears discontinued the leadership of new CEO Bob Chapek, who is unwilling to meet the reported $3.8B price tag the NFL is seeking, but does want more in exchange – ESPN/Disney are backed into a corner with the NFL and it is just a matter of how much they will concede.

TL;DR


Even with a malleable Salary Cap, it’s unlikely the Cap Floor will increase significantly past the $180 mark this year. This leaves teams with two options, shedding salaries or kicking the can down the road with extensions, albeit they can do so with a financial strategy. On the slight chance there is any significant increase to the cap this year, it will depend on the size of the TV deals and it will still come off future salary caps. In essence, the NFL will be loaning the players money from future caps and then collect it back. With less than a week of February left, deadlines creep closer on the inevitable clock. Disney, with its investment in ESPN/ABC cannot back out of airing football games and the NFL knows it (as does Disney). However, they have overpaid for some of their recent acquisitions (Lucasfilm) and the pandemic has hit their theme parks hard. Negotiations will not be simple — but it really can all come down to the NFL’s negotiations with Disney.

If you are looking for a guarantee, I’ll guarantee that you’ll see a constant series of “reports” about speculation but zero facts. My advice is to not get worked up by them. No talking head is going to have “insider information” outside a guess.

My prediction is this: The Steelers are preparing to play 2021 with Roethlisberger under center and will, for better or worse, even if it means borrowing from the future. It’s more likely to happen than not happen and TV deals will be done. The only TV partner with anything approaching true uncertainty is Disney and whether they move on Sunday Ticket (this year) but the NFL is about to go up $3B from three networks and it is about how much Disney will agree to.



Comments or thoughts? Please share in comments below.

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First time with right prediction in forever
 

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Long way to go before a deal is reached. Disney‘s proposal is $2.5 b/year. No one else comes close. Thing is, the league is asking for 100% increase from their last deal at $3.5 b/year. Basically telling the network you won’t make a dime off our games, but you will by advertising us on your other programs. No one, not even Disney, will do that. If they don’t watch it, the league will suffer the same as MLB. The youths/millennials don’t watch as much, although they have a higher interest in fantasy leagues.
 

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Nice article Bill! Thanks!!

This X two, thank You SIR

The GREED MACHINE will eventually reach climatic drop. Sooner than later all the "new" market will be used up and the "old" market tired of their bullshit. Eventually running out of "market" to bilk.




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This X two, thank You SIR

The GREED MACHINE will eventually reach climatic drop. Sooner than later all the "new" market will be used up and the "old" market tired of their bullshit. Eventually running out of "market" to bilk.




Salute the nation
The old market will die out.The deepest passion for the game and teams run here....and money.What have they built with the new market? Fantasy football. Political bs. I could go off all day on the injection of that over the last 3 years. Sports unifies people from all walks of life, every color,religion and nationality. It makes friends out of total strangers. Stop the nonsense. Your base isn't a bunch of fake woke leftists.

To me the game is just a shell of its former self. It's morphed into something I really don't find all that entertaining with the billion cheap yards of passing , a billion rules that water it down, horrible slanted applications to those rules. With two rules in particular that cook me. The blatant holding on pass rushing defensive players. This goes on so much without being called it's damn near on every play.

And pass interference and illegal contact. That **** goes on all games ,every game! And depending on who's playing the game, they either call it or completely ignore it.

Call all of it or call none of it. Better yet just remove the rule. Mel Blount will thank you.


Seeing flags every other play and guys flopping with magically disappearing injuries in a play is pathetic. That happens normally when an offense is driving. Leave that **** for soccer.

I hope they stop trying to reinvent the American game of football every off-season. In actuality they need to get back to the basics. KISS...Keep It Simple Stupid.


I have almost zero interest in the sport itself outside of the Steelers. Even that I've grown weary of seeing the same product thrown out every year for the last 12.


I don't see them surpassing what they had a few years back. The fans had pretty much an entire season of not going to the games.Probably realized they don't really need to spend thousands a year on it.. The players also got to see what life is like playing to a crowd of zero. Must feel like a practice.
 

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Long way to go before a deal is reached. Disney‘s proposal is $2.5 b/year. No one else comes close. Thing is, the league is asking for 100% increase from their last deal at $3.5 b/year. Basically telling the network you won’t make a dime off our games, but you will by advertising us on your other programs. No one, not even Disney, will do that. If they don’t watch it, the league will suffer the same as MLB. The youths/millennials don’t watch as much, although they have a higher interest in fantasy leagues.
I don’t know where your source is about Disney’s proposed at $2.5B - but I’m calling BS. Negotiation is more than price, extreme anchors are used that you know will be denied for a reason—but hell, don’t even know what Disney is asking for, but common sense (plus the research I provided) points to that is it’s MORE than the last deal.

Disney+ for Sunday Ticket alone might be $2.5B—not even sure they’re bidding on it.
MNF needs overhaul, hence rumors of going for SNF or Flex games.

I’m basing values off similar deals like WWE to Peacock & Fox; built in audience with low risk (WWE been going strong nationally for 40 years) — you know TNT regrets giving WCW away for nothing now.
 

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The old market will die out.The deepest passion for the game and teams run here....and money.What have they built with the new market? Fantasy football. Political bs. I could go off all day on the injection of that over the last 3 years. Sports unifies people from all walks of life, every color,religion and nationality. It makes friends out of total strangers. Stop the nonsense. Your base isn't a bunch of fake woke leftists.

To me the game is just a shell of its former self. It's morphed into something I really don't find all that entertaining with the billion cheap yards of passing , a billion rules that water it down, horrible slanted applications to those rules. With two rules in particular that cook me. The blatant holding on pass rushing defensive players. This goes on so much without being called it's damn near on every play.

And pass interference and illegal contact. That **** goes on all games ,every game! And depending on who's playing the game, they either call it or completely ignore it.

Call all of it or call none of it. Better yet just remove the rule. Mel Blount will thank you.


Seeing flags every other play and guys flopping with magically disappearing injuries in a play is pathetic. That happens normally when an offense is driving. Leave that **** for soccer.

I hope they stop trying to reinvent the American game of football every off-season. In actuality they need to get back to the basics. KISS...Keep It Simple Stupid.


I have almost zero interest in the sport itself outside of the Steelers. Even that I've grown weary of seeing the same product thrown out every year for the last 12.


I don't see them surpassing what they had a few years back. The fans had pretty much an entire season of not going to the games.Probably realized they don't really need to spend thousands a year on it.. The players also got to see what life is like playing to a crowd of zero. Must feel like a practice.


SUMs it up quite nicely. 15+ years ago I said Fantasy Football is the beginning downfall of the NFL as we know it. I wasn't to far off. the combination of godell's first CBA and the concussion fiasco combined with the introduction of the FF leagues, football had no chance of surviving that combination.

I too have gone from EVERYTHING FOOTBALL to mostly just STEELERS football. From 24/7 football to my time here on this board which accounts to more than 90% of my football time spent. (great board, best in the world). A drastic change even if for just one fan.

We will never get back to a resemblance of what most call real football. That new league last year was such a breath of fresh air that I rooted for it to make it and survive. It's on field product was hands down better football than the current NFL and the nfl adopted some rules changes of theirs as well.



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I don’t know where your source is about Disney’s proposed at $2.5B - but I’m calling BS. Negotiation is more than price, extreme anchors are used that you know will be denied for a reason—but hell, don’t even know what Disney is asking for, but common sense (plus the research I provided) points to that is it’s MORE than the last deal.

Disney+ for Sunday Ticket alone might be $2.5B—not even sure they’re bidding on it.
MNF needs overhaul, hence rumors of going for SNF or Flex games.

I’m basing values off similar deals like WWE to Peacock & Fox; built in audience with low risk (WWE been going strong nationally for 40 years) — you know TNT regrets giving WCW away for nothing now.
Pat Kiran and Jim Miller on their show on Sirius Radio devoted almost an hour to the cap situation being in a fluid state because of the pending TV deal. Kiran reported Disney’s offer and that’s $ 2.5b per year for 7 years. That’s only for the regular season Sunday games. The additional bids will include Sunday Ticket, MNF, TNF, Playoffs and SB adding an additional $5b ($7.5b/year total) all separate but tied to the original regular season bid. NBC is only negotiating for SNF, playoffs and SB and maybe MNF, and streaming platforms (Amazon/Paramount) are in the bid for Thursday and MNF. In total, the NFL generated just over $15b a year from ALL (not just TV) revenue (2019 numbers). 2020 no doubt will be reduced because of COVID. Disney’s entire TV deal offer tops over $14b/year for 7 years. The NFL’s contract with the networks and DirecTV was only $7.5b year. So Disney is doubling that for all of it. Yet, still the league wants more than that. They want a 100% increase in revenue. How in the hell do they think they going to do that with only TV?

Doubtful the league will let a streaming service cover both games with no network ties. Disney already said Sunday Ticket would be offered through Disney+ (Includes ESPN+) and NBC will use Peacock. CBS will bid, rumored as an 8 year deal at $12b/year, but no one is going to come close to Disney. As detailed in your article, you saw what that monster deal did to ESPN. They over extended themselves, and paid the price. All the main contract bidders know they have multiple platforms at their disposal, something ESPN did not, nor did they take into consideration when they made their previous 10 year deal.

The NFL knows it has the deck during this negotiation. Even during COVID they had most of the highest rated programs over the fall/winter. Are they being arrogant or just business savvy? It really doesn’t matter, because us fans will end up paying for it regardless. The US has an insatiable appetite for all things football.
 

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The leagues limited antitrust extension is based off of making games available to the public over the airwaves ... the more they move games to premium channels, the more that exemption gets put at risk...
 

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I'm not an "anti-trust" guru but could someone explain how the NFL qualifies and yet still remains even though they seem to have a monopoly on all things football related???

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Pat Kiran and Jim Miller on their show on Sirius Radio devoted almost an hour to the cap situation being in a fluid state because of the pending TV deal. Kiran reported Disney’s offer and that’s $ 2.5b per year for 7 years. That’s only for the regular season Sunday games. The additional bids will include Sunday Ticket, MNF, TNF, Playoffs and SB adding an additional $5b ($7.5b/year total) all separate but tied to the original regular season bid. NBC is only negotiating for SNF, playoffs and SB and maybe MNF, and streaming platforms (Amazon/Paramount) are in the bid for Thursday and MNF. In total, the NFL generated just over $15b a year from ALL (not just TV) revenue (2019 numbers). 2020 no doubt will be reduced because of COVID. Disney’s entire TV deal offer tops over $14b/year for 7 years. The NFL’s contract with the networks and DirecTV was only $7.5b year. So Disney is doubling that for all of it. Yet, still the league wants more than that. They want a 100% increase in revenue. How in the hell do they think they going to do that with only TV?

Doubtful the league will let a streaming service cover both games with no network ties. Disney already said Sunday Ticket would be offered through Disney+ (Includes ESPN+) and NBC will use Peacock. CBS will bid, rumored as an 8 year deal at $12b/year, but no one is going to come close to Disney. As detailed in your article, you saw what that monster deal did to ESPN. They over extended themselves, and paid the price. All the main contract bidders know they have multiple platforms at their disposal, something ESPN did not, nor did they take into consideration when they made their previous 10 year deal.

The NFL knows it has the deck during this negotiation. Even during COVID they had most of the highest rated programs over the fall/winter. Are they being arrogant or just business savvy? It really doesn’t matter, because us fans will end up paying for it regardless. The US has an insatiable appetite for all things football.
I have to eat a little crow, cuz you were right about the reported $2.5B mark, give or take. (at least you know that they have good sources!)
 

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I have to eat a little crow, cuz you were right about the reported $2.5B mark, give or take. (at least you know that they have good sources!)
No crow eating needed Bill. There is a game of chicken going on with this TV deal, so no one really knows what’s the worth. To tell you the truth, I think the League is bullying the process because cable is dying and all the networks know it. Their 5 year plan to get their streaming services in everyone’s household just got shorted to about 2 years. Whoever gets contract with the NFL, I would sell their shares on the market. Because they will probably break apart in 10 years because of it. Gheez just think if you are an employee of them. I’d be nervous.

EDIT: Just saw the Disney/NFL TV deal done thread. Holy rolling in the money Batman, that’s a ton of money. The cap situation should improve for 2021 since they can divide the $20 million loss from future years. One thing for sure if NBC didn’t get SNF, no more Collingsworth and he can take his PFF crap with him!
 
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No crow eating needed Bill. There is a game of chicken going on with this TV deal, so no one really knows what’s the worth. To tell you the truth, I think the League is bullying the process because cable is dying and all the networks know it. Their 5 year plan to get their streaming services in everyone’s household just got shorted to about 2 years. Whoever gets contract with the NFL, I would sell their shares on the market. Because they will probably break apart in 10 years because of it. Gheez just think if you are an employee of them. I’d be nervous.

EDIT: Just saw the Disney/NFL TV deal done thread. Holy rolling in the money Batman, that’s a ton of money. The cap situation should improve for 2021 since they can divide the $20 million loss from future years. One thing for sure if NBC didn’t get SNF, no more Collingsworth and he can take his PFF crap with him!
The worst idea in the world would be for the NFL to enter the Streaming market now.

It’s an S curve that’s about to be overloaded, just like Auto industry in 20s and Telecom in 90s. The strong ones will buy up the bad ones leaving a limited market.

But think you’re right because they will switch over when dust settles
 

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So... Sunday ticket might be going to streaming? That just sucks balls. I've hoped for years they would offer it ppv or something since I don't have direct TV and don't want to switch from dish network.
My internet options out here in the sticks is garbage, streaming doesn't work!
 

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So... Sunday ticket might be going to streaming? That just sucks balls. I've hoped for years they would offer it ppv or something since I don't have direct TV and don't want to switch from dish network.
My internet options out here in the sticks is garbage, streaming doesn't work!
Streaming is an overall drive. I live in downtown and streaming gets messed up too. A small amount of rain also disrupts Direct TV so there’s always something....

But it’s coming, just not gonna forecast the when
 

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I'm still curious and wondering about the topic, will these deals with the multiple media entities regardless
of the specific details increase the cap. I understand that there's negotiations ongoing and it will take a
bit for the billions to be totaled. In the mean time DeMaurice Smith who represents the NFLPA's is already telling
player agents that "they should work together during the upcoming free-agency period to ensure that teams aren't
taking advantage of the reduced 2021 salary cap to limit player's salary." Smith is talking about a push back
(according to the article) if teams are cutting players due to the cap. He's advocating agents to "collude" in an
effort to protect the players. Again, according to the article, collusion is perfectly legal regarding union's etc. talking
about where the best money is etc. and what team is doing what.

This makes sense to me, the NFLPA and DeMaurice Smith {who is not a slam dunk in player popularity} isn't going to stand by.
But, Smith is telling agents to watch teams cutting players to stay under the cap and the agents to converse amongst one another regarding
financial offers. If the NFL goes with a 185 million cap, what does he expect the owners/GM's to do. My personal take on this is they're
already in a game of chess before the final media numbers come out. I'm guessing that the cap will be around 190 mil or higher.
 

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So... Sunday ticket might be going to streaming? That just sucks balls. I've hoped for years they would offer it ppv or something since I don't have direct TV and don't want to switch from dish network.
My internet options out here in the sticks is garbage, streaming doesn't work!
You won’t need a DirecTV dish anymore because of the streaming platform. DirecTV is dropping Sunday Ticket after 2021, which is why AT&T has been trying to sell off DirecTV in the first place. Most TVs nowadays have Smart functions which allow you to WiFi any streaming portal App anyway, or you can use a Firestick etc.

FSF is right too, your ISP will determine how good your streaming is. When Elon Musk gets his Starlink service going it’s a whole new ball game for these ISPs. Musk’s service will offer something like 300mps and that’s in the middle of nowhereville USA.
 

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You won’t need a DirecTV dish anymore because of the streaming platform. DirecTV is dropping Sunday Ticket after 2021, which is why AT&T has been trying to sell off DirecTV in the first place. Most TVs nowadays have Smart functions which allow you to WiFi any streaming portal App anyway, or you can use a Firestick etc.

FSF is right too, your ISP will determine how good your streaming is. When Elon Musk gets his Starlink service going it’s a whole new ball game for these ISPs. Musk’s service will offer something like 300mps and that’s in the middle of nowhereville USA.
Well, cmon Musk, get me sone internet that's worth a damn.
I've tried every service available in my area and it's all garbage for streaming, and it's all capped. I realize streaming is the way of the future but a lot of us are hung out to dry.
 

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Well, cmon Musk, get me sone internet that's worth a damn.
I've tried every service available in my area and it's all garbage for streaming, and it's all capped. I realize streaming is the way of the future but a lot of us are hung out to dry.
I can’t help but chuckle about trouble with internet service to see a Steelers game when I can remember going out to my older brothers car because for whatever reason—I was able to pick up over AM radio there (with a LOT of static) the 1984 Steelers win over 15-1 49ers.
 

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I can’t help but chuckle about trouble with internet service to see a Steelers game when I can remember going out to my older brothers car because for whatever reason—I was able to pick up over AM radio there (with a LOT of static) the 1984 Steelers win over 15-1 49ers.

Similar here, I remeber many a days being able to get "radio" STEELERS games and then the internet came and we got gauranteed "radio" Myron Cope games, huge upgrade.

Love my STEELERS




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I'm still curious and wondering about the topic, will these deals with the multiple media entities regardless
of the specific details increase the cap. I understand that there's negotiations ongoing and it will take a
bit for the billions to be totaled. In the mean time DeMaurice Smith who represents the NFLPA's is already telling
player agents that "they should work together during the upcoming free-agency period to ensure that teams aren't
taking advantage of the reduced 2021 salary cap to limit player's salary." Smith is talking about a push back
(according to the article) if teams are cutting players due to the cap. He's advocating agents to "collude" in an
effort to protect the players. Again, according to the article, collusion is perfectly legal regarding union's etc. talking
about where the best money is etc. and what team is doing what.

This makes sense to me, the NFLPA and DeMaurice Smith {who is not a slam dunk in player popularity} isn't going to stand by.
But, Smith is telling agents to watch teams cutting players to stay under the cap and the agents to converse amongst one another regarding
financial offers. If the NFL goes with a 185 million cap, what does he expect the owners/GM's to do. My personal take on this is they're
already in a game of chess before the final media numbers come out. I'm guessing that the cap will be around 190 mil or higher.
Ok, DK Sports had a report from one of their editors behind their paywall. Pretty much gives the details of the NFL media footprint. Disney’s of course is $2.6b/year allowing ABC back in SB rotation, and taking over SundayTicket. not to mention keeping MNF at ESPN.

What blows my mind now is NBC/CBS and Fox will also renew their contracts with the league at TWICE the amount of their previous contract. The league doubled the contracts of those three to about $2b/year each. $6 billion! And that includes Fox giving up on TNF, much to the delight of Strahan and Howie. Speaking of TNF it will be broadcast by NFL Network and Amazon Prime only. They haven’t released Amazon’s contract numbers, but for it to be exclusive from the networks it’s going to fairly huge.

The only question I have is the length of these contracts are they all 10 years, or 6-7 with escalators. In any case, the League just got a load of $$$. The cap floor should definitely be no lower than 190. Jesus.....that’s a lot of dough for the players and owners.
 

fedderone

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The worst idea in the world would be for the NFL to enter the Streaming market now.

It’s an S curve that’s about to be overloaded, just like Auto industry in 20s and Telecom in 90s. The strong ones will buy up the bad ones leaving a limited market.

But think you’re right because they will switch over when dust settles
This is already happening.
Playstation Vue dropped out.
Fox bought Tubi.
Disney bought Hulu.
Comcast bought Xumo.
Roku bought Quibi.
Fandango bought Vudu.
NBC/Peacock bought WWE Network.
HBO Max is AT&T/Warner Media.

I believe it will get whittled down even further, like the Cell Phone companies ( big three of Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile ) as some of these companies are subsidiaries of larger corporations anyways. Apple messed up not buy Netflix back in the day, but they may eventually anyways to keep up with the competition.
CBS and FOX already stream their live broadcasts and I'm sure ABC and NBC ( via Peacock ) will follow suit quickly enough.
All four of them broadcast live sports ( ABC through ESPN+ ).

The NFL would be wise to jump into the streaming as soon as possible.
 
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