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All 4 Major Networks Expected To Bid For Premier League Rights

“Ourand didn’t land on a specific asking price for the soccer league’s rights.”

Russ Heltman

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Courtesy: Premier League

The Premier League has its rights up for grabs, and all four major broadcast networks could submit bids for the property. Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand expects FOX, ESPN, and CBS to turn bids in alongside NBC next month.

The Nov. 8 deadline to submit bids is fast approaching as the league prepares to enter uncharted territory for its American broadcast arm. Ourand also reports that the Premier League could split their U.S. package, a la the NHL, for the first time.

The NHL did the same thing in its latest media rights deal with ESPN as the main affiliate and Turner as the secondary media arm.

Ourand didn’t land on a specific asking price for the soccer league’s rights.

“NBC currently pays more than $150 million per season as part of a six-year deal signed in 2015,” Ourand wrote in the article. “Considering the amount of interest, that fee is likely to double — and possibly go higher. NBC Sports wants to remain the sole U.S. rightsholder for Premier League, which has been a big driver of its Peacock streaming service.”

ESPN has expanded their relationship with Spain’s top soccer league, La Liga, over the past six months and have a clear interest in the world game.

“We love the game of soccer,” ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro said at last week’s CAA World Congress of Sports. “We love it on linear, but probably love it even more for direct-to-consumer. Absolutely we are interested in more soccer content, and we are looking at it right now.”

Despite those comments, Ourand noted earlier in his article that Fox looks to be taking over UEFA EURO Championship rights from ESPN. They haven’t signed a new deal to make it official, but the property would air on the FOX family of networks in 2024 and 2028.

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ESPN Coverage of Men’s NIT Tournament Quarterfinals Up 33% vs. 2023

Viewership of the Men’s NIT Quarterfinals on ESPN were up 33 percent compared to last year and featured two games that averaged over one million viewers.

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Even the NIT is riding the recent hot streak of live sports viewership numbers. According to data provided by ESPN, the 2024 NIT Quarterfinals are up 33 percent compared to last year’s tournament. Perhaps more surprisingly, two NIT quarterfinal games topped one million viewers.

The network’s Georgia/Ohio State matchup averaged 1.03 million viewers, while the Cincinnati/Indiana State contest averaged 1.02 million viewers. These two games were the most-watched NIT games since 2017 — including title games. Both Georgia and Ohio State have rabid fanbases, while many thought Indiana State was unjustly left out of the March Madness tournament, which could be a reason why viewers tuned in.

Much of the focus this season has been on the women’s game, thanks to Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks, led by Dawn Staley. ESPN just had its most-watched women’s college basketball season since 2008-09 because of the increased interest in the women’s game. The men’s game, however, hasn’t been heralded as much this season for whatever reason, mostly because numbers seem to be holding steady compared to previous years. However, if the NIT is posting viewership wins, that should bode well for the NCAA Tournament’s incoming viewership totals.

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Report: NFL to Put Christmas Day Doubleheader Up For Bids

Bidding is expected to start at $50 million among the current NFL media partners but some think the games could sell for $75 million to $100 million apiece.

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The NFL will reportedly put its Christmas Day games up for auction, allowing its current media partners to bid for the games. Now, it’s up to CBS, FOX, ESPN, NBC, and Prime Video to pay up for rights to one of these two marquee games.

According to Front Office Sports Michael McCarthy, preference will be given to linear networks, so Prime Video and Peacock may sit this one out. Bidding is expected to start at $50 million but McCarthy and his sources expect that number to rise. John Kosner, the former ESPN executive, thinks the new Christmas Day games could sell for $75 million to $100 million apiece.

The NFL announced a Wednesday Christmas Day doubleheader during its annual league meetings. The league originally said it wouldn’t force games on Christmas Day if the holiday fell on an odd day of the week, though as the NFL continues to put games on days outside of Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, and sometimes Saturdays, we’re running out of days that don’t feature NFL football.

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Colorado Rockies & DirecTV Reach Agreement to Carry Games on TV

“Colorado sports fans have made DIRECTV the top destination for their favorite local teams. We will continue to work with MLB…so fans can get their games.”

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Colorado Rockies

Breathe easy, Rockies fans — you will be able to watch your club on linear TV this year. At the buzzer, DirecTV and the Colorado Rockies agreed on terms to distribute the team’s games throughout its local service.

Starting today, DirecTV Choice subscribers across Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Southern Idaho, Western Nebraska, and Northern New Mexico can now watch the Rockies on a special channel simply titled, “ROCKIES.” The games will be available on DirecTV and DirecTV STREAM via channel 683.

“Colorado sports fans have made DIRECTV the top destination to get all their favorite local teams,” said Rob Thun, chief content officer of DIRECTV. “We will continue to work with MLB, the NBA, NHL, and other top leagues and their local franchises so the most avid fans can get the games they want while other customers have more choice over the content they want to pay to have in their homes.”

Reports just days ago out of Colorado said there were “no guarantees” the Rockies would not find a TV home in time for Opening Day following the sunsetting of AT&T SportsNet. The only other way to watch the team is to use its direct-to-consumer Rockies.tv streaming service, which fans say is too pricey for a team that lost 103 games last season. Luckily, the team was able to secure a TV home for 2024, though the future is still uncertain.

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