
Antrim hurlers demand clarity over Fitzgerald position
Antrim hurlers demand clarity on manager Davy Fitzgerald's position amid confusion.
The NFL's negotiations for new media rights deals have slowed down as of late April. Currently, CBS is the only primary partner officially engaged in discussions, with little recent information on the status of talks with other broadcasters.
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Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images
As we approach the end of April, reports on the NFLâs ongoing negotiations for new media rights deals have slowed considerably.
Weâve certainly gotten plenty of headlines about challenges the NFL might face from the federal government, or smaller rights deals the league might strike with the likes of YouTube. But when it comes to early negotiations with its five primary broadcast partners â CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, and Prime Video â the trickle of details and reports typical of such talks has come to an apparent halt.
Officially, the NFL has only engaged CBS so far. The league, on account of the change-of-control provision triggered by Skydanceâs purchase of Paramount last summer, can compel CBS to the negotiating table in a way that it cannot for its four other primary partners. But itâs been quite some time since any meaningful reporting has surfaced on those talks.
Early in March, CNBCâs Alex Sherman provided some ballpark figures on a âmidpointâ between CBSâs and the NFLâs asking prices for a new deal. That midpoint came out to about a 50-60% increase over the current $2.1 billion per year CBS pays the league. This month, Sherman further reported that the NFL was looking to double the revenue it earns through its broadcast deals, with network executives being more comfortable with about a 25% increase.
Negotiations for new NFL media rights deals have slowed, with CBS being the only primary partner officially engaged.
These negotiations determine how NFL games will be broadcast, impacting viewership and revenue for the league and its partners.
The primary broadcast partners involved are CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, and Prime Video.
The NFL is facing potential challenges from federal government scrutiny and competition from smaller rights deals with platforms like YouTube.

Antrim hurlers demand clarity on manager Davy Fitzgerald's position amid confusion.

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Thatâs a pretty sizable gap in asking price, and one that could take some time to hammer out.
However, last month, Puckâs John Ourand reported that the NFL âwants to have new deals in place before the new season starts in September.â He also added that âany new contract would take effect immediately.â
But here we are, days away from May, and all is quiet on the NFL media rights front.
Why does May matter? Well, as the NFL announced during last weekâs NFL Draft, the schedule for next season will be released in May. That schedule, of course, is directly tied to the broadcast agreements the NFL has with the networks. And if the league wants these new deals to âtake effect immediately,â then one of three things must be true: either these new deals will be done before the schedule is released in May (very unlikely), these new deals will be done by September, but wonât be different enough from the current agreements to impact the schedule in any material way (feasible), or the NFL is simply going to punt the new deals until the 2027 season, giving itself another 12 months to negotiate agreements that will be ready for next yearâs schedule release (also feasible).
Considering there has been no recent movement on the CBS deal and the NFL seemingly hasnât even engaged any of the other four partners â NBC Sports president Jon Miller said the league has not yet approached the network about new media rights deals during an interview last week â time is running out for the league to reach new deals prior to the schedule release.
And out of the two feasible options, new deals being struck by September or the NFL punting to next year, Iâd contend punting to next year is the more likely scenario. There are a few reasons why.
First off, while the primary reason the NFL is attempting to renegotiate its media rights deals early is to secure more money, the league also wants to secure some flexibility in how it allocates games, ideally opening up more inventory for streamers the league sees as the long-term future of its distribution model. Cobbling together some hastily agreed-upon deals before September isnât really the NFLâs MO. Such deals would necessarily have to retrofit to the already released schedule, at least to a degree, potentially preventing the NFL from moving more inventory to streamers down the line.
Conventional wisdom suggests that, should network partners like CBS and Fox reach a new agreement with the league, theyâd need to sacrifice some inventory to keep those deals affordable. That inventory would then be taken and sold to streamers by the league. For this to be hypothetically feasible in the period after the May schedule release but before the season begins in September, the league and network would need to codify how much inventory the networks will lose and, crucially, when they will lose it, since it wonât be the 2026 season. Itâs not impossible to imagine this could happen if the NFL were really dead-set on getting deals done this summer. Still, it certainly complicates matters to negotiate such terms after the 2026 schedule has already been released.
Secondly, broadcast networks currently feel emboldened by the federal governmentâs various probes into how the NFL sells its media rights. Whereas network executives were at one point pledging fealty to the NFL and publicly discussing the lengths to which theyâd go to keep the league, a more measured tone has now been struck, with some executives going as far as to say they believe theyâre already paying âmarketâ price for NFL games.
While itâs difficult to imagine a world in which the federal government actually does something to upend the NFLâs business model, it has at least served as leverage for the networks and as a distraction the league must deal with during its negotiations. In other words, it can slow down the negotiating process. And by delaying these deals by even one season, networks stand to save billions of dollars.
Finally, the last reason the NFL is more likely to punt to next year rather than finish these deals this offseason is pretty straightforward. The league and the broadcast partners are too far away on price. If networks think something in the 25% range is fair for an increase, while the NFL is looking to double its rights fees, thereâs a lot of discussion to be had.
Going back to the first point, some of that will likely mean a shift in how the league allocates its games, with broadcasters agreeing to a smaller fee increase for fewer games. But thatâs the type of negotiation that requires time to hammer out details. Itâs not something that can be rushed overnight.
And to think the NFL could somehow approach all four of its primary broadcasters, none of which are in active talks with the league, and get new deals done in the next three months seems like too tall a task. Perhaps Iâm wrong, but all signs point to next year as the first season under the NFLâs new deals, not 2026.
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