CBS and Fox’s contracts with the NFL will prevent ‘big cut’ in Sunday Ticket price

Many are excited about the inevitability of the NFL Sunday ticket Landing with a new provider For various reasons, from the potential for improved customer service over DirecTV’s current “please wait” approach to expanded functionality capabilities and more options for viewing off-market games. Not a single significant change will be made.

You won’t get much cheaper price.

CNBC.com’s Alex Sherman reports that language is in contracts between the NFL, CBS, and Fox Prevent a big reduction in the price point of the Sunday ticket, which currently has a full season price point in the $300 range. Likewise, an existing streaming service like ESPN+ cannot simply add a Sunday ticket at no extra charge in order to increase subscribers.

It seems reasonable. CBS and Fox want people to see the games offered in their local markets. If Sunday Ticket becomes too affordable, it is I’ll see you later To the regular Sunday offer for affiliate marketers in a specific region.

Although I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the Sherman report, I would like to approach it from a different perspective. The NFL negotiated new contracts with CBS and Fox last year, knowing full well that the clock is ticking on the Sunday ticket. If the NFL wanted to create a path for cheaper access to the Sunday Ticket, it might have changed the term in its CBS and Fox deals.

The NFL did not. Presumably she doesn’t want to. It’s possible that CBS and Fox would have offered a lot less on the NFL if the Sunday Ticket was actually easier and cheaper to get, even though the games available in the local market via CBS and Fox have been withheld. Similarly, the NFL has set itself up for a bigger payday for the Sunday Ticket, given that anyone who wants it will splurge big money for the privilege of watching games other than those offered locally for free.

In other words, the NFL is using the full scope of the broadcast’s antitrust exemption to increase revenue from CBS, Fox, and DirecTV by agreeing to and/or imposing terms that make it more expensive for fans who, for example, live in Jacksonville but root the Steelers to watch all of Pittsburgh’s games. .

There are inherent antitrust issues when telling fans that their only way, if they live in Jacksonville, to watch all of the Steelers’ games is to purchase the entire Sunday Ticket package. Fans should be able to purchase one Sunday Ticket at a time, or one week at a time. Instead, it was – and will continue to be – a huge spend for any fan who doesn’t live in the market playing their favorite team to pursue the one team that drew them to the NFL in the first place.

Think about it. The NFL wants you to have a favorite team. But the NFL subtly guides you towards the team you live in, by making it much more expensive to see which team you prefer to watch. There was an opportunity last year to make it cheaper by reviewing the terms protecting local CBS and Fox games, but the NFL didn’t.

and so while Football is familyAnd the Greed is a good thing.