NFL reaches long-term media deals with Amazon, Disney and others (updated)

Paramount Global

18/03/2021 21:39

(Adds details of deals, comments by NFL commissioner, changes
story identification tag.)
    March 18 (Reuters) - The National Football League (NFL) said
on Thursday it reached long-term media deals with Amazon.com Inc
 AMZN.O  and major broadcast and cable companies that run
through 2033.
    Amazon.com will become the exclusive partner for the
league's "Thursday Night Football" games. The NFL also made
deals with Walt Disney Co's  DIS.N  ESPN and ABC networks,
ViacomCBS Inc  VIACA.O , Fox Corp  FOXA.O  and Comcast Corp
 CMCSA.O .
    Together, these deals could be worth over $100 billion, CNBC
reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources.
    The new round of contracts marks the first time a streaming
service will carry an exclusive package of games, for which
Amazon is paying about $1 billion per year, according to CNBC.
    The other networks are paying $2 billion or more per year
for their packages, CNBC reported. 
    "These new media deals will provide our fans even greater
access to the games they love," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
said in a statement, adding that the "agreements bring an
unprecedented era of stability to the League."
    Sports has remained one of the biggest attractions for live
viewing even as U.S. audiences are cutting their pay TV
subscriptions and migrating to streaming services.
    Last year, viewership of regular-season NFL games averaged
about 15.4 million viewers, down by about 7%, according to
Nielsen. 

 (Reporting by Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru and Kenneth Li in
New York
Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Matthew Lewis)
 ((Amruta.Khandekar@thomsonreuters.com;))