NFL on American television

The television rights to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any sport. It was television that brought professional American football into prominence in the modern era of technology. Since then, NFL broadcasts have become among the most-watched programs on American television, and the fortunes of entire networks have rested on owning NFL broadcasting rights.

Currently, five American television networks (CBS, NBC, FOX, ESPN, and the NFL Network) are paying a combined total of US$3.1 billion per year to broadcast NFL games. However, the league imposes several strict television policies to ensure that stadiums are filled and sold out, to maximize TV ratings, and to help leverage content on these networks.

Current broadcasting contracts

The TV rights to the NFL are the most lucrative and expensive rights not only of any American sport, but of any American entertainment property. With the fragmentation of audiences due to the increased specialization of broadcast and cable TV networks, sports remain one of the few entertainment properties that not only can guarantee a large and diversified audience, but an audience that will watch in real time.

Annually, the Super Bowl often ranks among the most watched shows of the year. Four of Nielsen Media Research's top 10 programs are Super Bowls . Networks have purchased a share of the broadcasting rights to the NFL as a means of raising the entire network's profile.

Under the current television contracts, which began during the 2006 season, regular season games are broadcast on five networks: CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and The NFL Network. In 2006, CBS announced it would air only three games per week in high-definition. The move created some outrage and animosity towards CBS, along with accusations of the network being "cheap." FOX, NBC, and ESPN air all of their games in high-definition. See main article: NFL on CBS HDTV Controversy

Regional games

With these current contacts, the regional Sunday afternoon games are broadcast on CBS and FOX. CBS has broadcast rights to all regional AFC intra-conference games, and FOX has all rights to regional NFC intra-conference games. Interconference games are broadcast by the network that is the normal broadcast partner for the away team's conference. In 1970, when the blackout was put into place, this assured that all Sunday road games would be seen on the same network, while allowing both networks access to every stadium in the league. Three games (with some rare exceptions, see below) are broadcast in any one market each Sunday afternoon, with one network getting a "double-header" each week (the 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT and 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT games) while the other network broadcasting either a 1:00 p.m. ET or a 4:05 p.m. ET game.

During the first sixteen weeks of the schedule, both FOX and CBS each are given eight double-headers apiece. The two networks alternate double-headers, but not necessarily week-in and week-out. For example, in early October, CBS typically airs two or three consecutive double-header weekends, while FOX opts for single-headers those weeks due to their concurrent coverage of the Baseball's LCS. Due to CBS's annual coverage of the U.S. Open, FOX has had exclusive double-header coverage of opening weekend since 1998. Starting in 2006, both networks air a double-header in week 17.

Since 1973, the NFL has what is known as a "Blackout Rule" that has been part of its standard broadcast contract. A regionally broadcast game is "blacked out" in its home market if it does not sell out within 72 hours of its air time, and it will not be shown in the local market; another game will be substituted in its place. This is to encourage ticket sales at stadiums. . The rule is specifically exempted from U.S. anti-trust law (Title 15, Sec. 1292 of the U.S. Code), as it would normally not be allowed under standard laws. Sports bars and taverns in various places in the U.S. have been sued by the NFL for attempting to circumvent this rule.

National games

National broadcasts of marquee match-ups usually occur on Sunday and Monday nights, and later in the season (after the completion of the NCAA football season) on Thursday and Saturday nights as well. NBC has broadcast rights to Sunday night games. These are broadcast under a special "flexible schedule" that allows Sunday games (on the last seven weeks of the season that contain a Sunday night game) to be moved from the normal start time of 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT, 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT, or 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT. to the prime-time slot, and possibly move one or more 1:00 p.m. ET slotted games to the 4:00 p.m. ET slots. This is to have the best game of each week broadcast on national over-the-air television.

During the last week of the season, the league could also re-schedule games as late as six days before the contests so that all of the television networks will be able to broadcast a game that has playoff implications. Both FOX and CBS have the right to "protect" five games each when flexible scheduling for Weeks 11-17 are in place. This allows FOX and CBS to protect at least one marquee game to show on a national scale. Both networks are also allowed to move a 1:00 p.m. ET slotted game to 4:05 p.m. ET or 4:15 p.m. ET during this time of the season. NBC also has broadcast rights to the opening Thursday Night game, which replaces a game taken away when the league omits a Sunday night game during the weekend of the World Series (was opening weekend in 2006; starting in 2007, the one weekend where Games 3-5 are held). Monday Night Football has been moved from longtime partner ABC to ESPN (though it should be noted that both are properties of Disney). Additionally, the recently created NFL Network will broadcast eight Thursday and Saturday night games for the league starting with a newly-created third Thanksgiving Day game.

NFL Sunday Ticket

Also, satellite broadcast company DirecTV offers NFL Sunday Ticket, a subscription-based package, that allows most Sunday daytime regional games to be watched. NFL Sunday Ticket is subject to the same blackout rules as broadcast networks. This package is exclusive to DirecTV in the USA. In Canada, NFL Sunday Ticket is available on a per-provider distribution deal on both cable and satellite.

Television policies

The NFL imposes several television and blackout policies to maximize TV ratings and to ensure that stadiums are filled and sold out for these games.

Sunday regional coverage

Except for Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, games aired on the NFL Network, and other selected contests, most of the regular season games are regionally televised on Sunday afternoon by CBS and FOX. In other words, each game is only broadcast to certain media markets in the United States instead of the entire country.

Normally, all media markets receive three games during each Sunday of the regular season: two games by the television network (either CBS or FOX) showing the "doubleheader" and one single game by the network showing the single game. The network with the doubleheader televises one game in the "early" time slot (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) and the other game in the "late" time slot (4:15 ET/1:15 p.m. PT). The network with the single game is also assigned contests in both the early and late time slot but can only show one game in each market. Because of that, the single-game network airs the late time slot games ten minutes earlier at 4:05 ET/1:05 p.m. PT.

The designated "doubleheader" network for each Sunday is determined by the league when it creates the regular season schedule, but it is generally roughly split equally between CBS and FOX. In determining this selection, the NFL has traditionally honored the networks' other major broadcasting commitments. For the past few decades, the league has always let CBS be the single-game network (and only show 1:00 games) during the week it televises the Men's U.S. Open Tennis final at 4:05 p.m. ET around the country. In recent years, this has been the first week of the season; prior to 2001, the Men's final fell during the second weekend of the NFL season when the league opened the year on Labor Day Weekend. The NFL has also assigned FOX a single-header (only 1:00 games) during baseball's League Championship Series when Fox has had to telecast a baseball game at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Starting in the 2006 NFL season, both CBS and FOX are given eight total doubleheaders during the first sixteen weeks of the regular season. Both networks will air doubleheaders in the last week of the season to provide national coverage of contests with playoff implications (excluding the markets guaranteed their local teams).

Which games get shown in what particular markets are determined by the following factors: First, each home team's "primary media market," the market in which the team is physically located, must televise all of the away games involving the local team (a vestige of the days when only road games were shown), and all of the home games, provided that they are sold out at least 72 hours prior to kickoff (or else, they are subject to blackout, see below). In addition, the league also designates "secondary markets," media markets adjoining primary markets (generally penetrating within 75 miles of a stadium but not having their own team) that are also required to show the local team. Generally, these secondary markets must show the road games but are not obligated to show the designated team's home games. Their decision on whether to show home games typically depends on whether or not the NFL-designated local team is perceived to be the most popular in the market. In all other markets, the networks are the sole arbiters of what game gets shown where. However, they usually make their decisions after consulting with all of their local affiliates. In some rarer occasions, some affiliates are offered a choice of a few games for a given time-slot, if there is not one game that stands out as appropriate. In those cases, sometimes affiliates allow viewers to vote on which game will air.

During the afternoon, CBS and FOX may switch a media market's game to a more competitive one, particularly when a contest becomes one-sided. For this to happen, one of the teams must normally be ahead by at least 18 points in the second half.

However, due to the incident involving the "Heidi Game", a primary media market must show its local team's game in its entirety, and secondary markets usually follow suit. Additionally, if the local team's game is in the late time-slot on the doubleheader network, the primary and secondary markets may be required to switch coverage from the early game to the start of the late game regardless of how long the first game still is, so that the local team's contest can be shown in its entirety. This is usually accompanied by an apology that the NFL's TV contract does not allow them to show any more of the early game live. The network usually shows updates and highlights as soon as they happen. NFL Sunday Ticket viewers are unaffected, except to the extent that game blackouts might change as a result.

For this reason, the New York Giants and New York Jets are never scheduled on the same network on the same day (unless they play each other) because they both share the same primary media market. The San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders are treated likewise. Otherwise, the networks could theoretically have to cut away from one team's game to show the other team. In general, the league never schedules the Giants and the Jets to play their games at the same time (except for a head-to-head meeting), and the same usually goes for the 49ers and the Raiders, though this can mean one of those teams will play a road game at 10:00 AM PT. The often complicated television package is a significant factor in why the NFL schedule for a particular season takes several weeks to develop.

The same principles which apply to the New York and San Francisco markets were also in effect when the Rams and Raiders shared the Los Angeles market from 1982-94. Like San Francisco, this often meant the Rams or Raiders would be scheduled for a 10 a.m. PT start when on the road.

The Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens are served by separate media markets, and so they can play at the same time (and if at home, viewers in that team's market will only see that game).

Sunday bonus coverage

When a media market's regionally televised game ends before the others, the network (CBS or FOX) may switch to "bonus coverage" of the ending of another game. However, the league imposes a couple of restrictions that are designed to maximize the TV ratings of the late games on the doubleheader network, which tend to record the most NFL viewers during the day (often beating the audience for Sunday night games).

First, bonus coverage offered after any early time slot games cannot be shown past the start of the late time slot (either 4:05 or 4:15 ET). This prevents people from continuing to watch the bonus coverage instead of seeing the beginning of the late doubleheader network's game (which is usually either their local team or the network's featured game). Again, the networks may show highlights of the game after the fact, and usually will at the earliest convenience. The single-header network will sometimes show each play as soon as it ends as part of its post-game show.

Second, bonus coverage cannot be shown after a late game on the single game network because it will run in opposition to the ending of the late doubleheader network's game(s) and NBC's pre-game show. However, the single-game network usually schedules most of its top games in the early 1:00 ET time slot (except for West Coast teams' home games, and possibly either a Giants' or Jets' road game), so this does not tend to be a major issue.

If the doubleheader network's games all finish before 7:30 ET, it is supposed to conclude the post-game show within 10 minutes to protect NBC's pre-game show. If any games finish after 7:30, the post-game can run until 8:00 ET. However, this restriction seems to apply to game footage only; on several occasions FOX has run its post-game to 8:00, despite all games ending before 7:30, by airing only panel discussions and interviews in the latter portion of the show. On the other hand, CBS rarely airs any post-game show after its doubleheaders, because 60 Minutes is one of its signature shows, and every effort is made to start it as close to 7:00 (its traditional airtime) as possible. The rule generally seems targeted at FOX, which heavily promotes its The OT presented by Lowe's show to compete with NBC (or ESPN prior to 2006).

These restrictions may not apply during the one week NBC does not have a Sunday night game because of the World Series, which airs on Fox and usually follows the late game on that Sunday.

Flexible-scheduling

Since the 2006 season, the NFL has used a "flexible-scheduling" system for the last seven weeks of the regular season where there is a Sunday night game. The system is designed so that the league has the flexibility in selecting games to air on Sunday night that will feature a more even or intriguing contest as well as make it possible for teams to play into prime time so to speak.

Under the system, all Sunday games in the affected weeks will tentatively have the "early" start time of 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, except those played in the Pacific or Mountain time zones, which will have the tentative start time of 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. On the Tuesday 12 days before the games, the league will move one game to the prime-time slot, and possibly move one or more 1 p.m. slotted games to the 4 p.m. slot. During the last week of the season, the league could re-schedule games as late as six days before the contests so that as many of the television networks as possible will be able to broadcast a game that has playoff implications. Each network protects five games for the 1 p.m. or 4 p.m. slot, and the other games are subject to the changes to 4:15 p.m. or in the case of NBC, 8:15 p.m. except in the final week of the season, when all games are affected and both networks schedule 4:15 p.m. late starts for double header, meaning in a city where a game is not being played, as many as five games can be seen on the last Sunday of the season.

Nationally televised games on cable

To maximize TV ratings, games televised on ESPN, the NFL Network, or any other cable station are simulcast on a local broadcast station in each of the primary markets of both teams. Stations in secondary markets may sometimes also offer these games.

In recent years, the NFL has changed to a syndicated package for games on ESPN and the NFL Network, to be bid by television stations in those markets.

To date, the league has never awarded broadcasting rights of a playoff or Super Bowl game to any cable television network or DBS service, though many league owners and executives have suggested that this will happen in the not-too-distant future.

Blackout policies

Since 1973, the NFL has maintained a blackout policy that states that a home game cannot be televised locally if it is not sold out within 72 hours prior to its start time. Prior to 1973, all games were blacked out in their city of origin regardless of whether they were sold out. This policy, dating back to the NFL's emerging years on television, resulted in home-city blackouts that even extended to championship games. For instance, the 1958 "Greatest Game Ever Played" between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants was not available on TV to New York fans despite the fact that tickets were out of reach to most. For years, Giants fans would migrate to Connecticut motel rooms every home weekend where they could watch the games beamed on Hartford/New Haven's CBS affiliate WTIC (Channel 3).

Although that policy was successfully defended in court numerous times, Congress passed legislation requiring the NFL to impose the 72-hour deadline. However, the league will sometimes extend this deadline 48 hours if there are only a few thousand tickets left unsold.

Alternatively, some NFL teams have arrangements with local TV stations or businesses to buy up unsold tickets (or tickets that the visiting team returns) to ensure a sellout. Tickets in premium "club" sections have also been excluded from the blackout rule in past years. The Jacksonville Jaguars have even gone further and closed off a number of sections at their home Jacksonville Municipal Stadium to reduce the number of tickets they would need to sell (Jacksonville Municipal Stadium is one of the largest in the NFL, as it was built to also accommodate the annual Florida-Georgia game and the Gator Bowl, but Jacksonville is the smallest market in the league). However, the NFL requires that this be done for every home game in a given season if a team elects such an option, so that they can't try to sell out the entire stadium only when they expect to be able to do so.

The NFL defines "locally" as within a 75-mile radius of the stadium. Therefore, a TV blackout affects any market whose broadcast signal penetrates into the 75-mile radius. Some primary media markets, such as Denver and Phoenix, may cover that entire radius and so the blackout would not affect any other markets.

An exception to the 75-mile rule is the market area for the Green Bay Packers, which stretches out to both the Green Bay and Milwaukee television markets (the team's radio flagship station is in Milwaukee, and two Packer home games a year were played at Milwaukee County Stadium until 1994). However, blackout rules rarely come into effect for the Packers, due to a four-decade long streak of sellouts and a decades-long season ticket waiting list.

Another policy to ensure a filled-up stadium is that no other NFL games can air on local TV at the same time as a team's home game in the club's primary market. This is to prevent ticket-holders from opting to watch the other locally televised NFL game instead of showing up at the stadium. Thus when a team's home game is on the network showing a single game, the network televising the doubleheader can only broadcast one game into that club's primary market; instead of showing a second game in the same time slot as the home game, the doubleheader network's local station must broadcast alternative programming (often movies or infomercials). When the doubleheader network has a team's home game, the other station might program the time themselves or air some other network programming scheduled for the non-NFL time-slot.

Each TV market, including one hosting a non-sold-out game, is assured of at least one televised game in the early and late time slots, one game on each network, but no "network doubleheader" in a market originating a non-sold-out game.

The New York and San Francisco Bay Area media markets typically get fewer doubleheaders than other markets since each has two teams, and one of them is at home virtually every week. The main exception is when one of the teams is idle, has its home game televised on the doubleheader network, or is chosen for a prime-time game. This policy affects only the club's primary market, not others with signals that penetrate inside the 75-mile radius. It also does not affect viewers of NFL Sunday Ticket in the primary market; all other games remain available.

If a home game is blacked out locally because it is not sold out before the 72-hour deadline, one of the following things will happen:

• If the blacked-out home game is a nationally televised game on a broadcast network, like NBC Sunday Night Football, where no other NFL games are played at the same time, all local stations inside the 75-mile radius must broadcast alternative programming (the stations have to program the time themselves, since other affiliates are carrying the game).

• If the blacked-out nationally televised game is on a cable television network like ESPN or the NFL Network, all cable and satellite television providers in the affected markets must black out the cable network's signal to customers in the affected markets during the game (this is a condition of the channels' agreements with both the league and the providers). In addition, the game is not simulcast on a local broadcast station in the blacked-out markets. Local stations would still be able to show highlights on their newscasts after the game has concluded.

• If the blacked-out home game is played on a Sunday afternoon, all local stations inside the 75-mile radius must show a different NFL game during that same time slot (the network typically chooses the game). Also, NFL Sunday Ticket cannot offer the game into that area. Furthermore, the network televising the doubleheader can broadcast only one game into that team's primary market (usually the #1 game, or the next-best game in the rare event that a blacked-out game was the network's first choice), which is also designed to prevent people from opting to watch the other locally televised NFL games instead of going to the local team's game. Again, the secondary markets would still carry a doubleheader. Sometimes, the networks will switch time-slots so that the doubleheader network can show its featured game.

Critics claim that these blackout policies are not really effective in creating sold-out, filled stadiums. Rather, there are other factors that cause non-sellouts, such as high ticket prices and the fact that people do not want to support a losing team. Furthermore, TV blackouts may actually hurt the league; without the TV exposure, it becomes more difficult for those teams with low attendance and few sellouts to increase their popularity and following.

Conversely, supporters argue that the policies do indeed encourage fans and local corporations to buy tickets for their team. Additionally, many teams sell out their entire regular-season schedule before it begins (usually through season-ticket sales), and so there is no threat of a blackout in those markets. The NFL has sold out well over 90 percent of games in recent seasons, and the number of blacked-out games has steadily decreased in recent years.

In 2005, for the first time in its history, the NFL lifted the blackout policies for a team: the New Orleans Saints. Due to damage by Hurricane Katrina, the Saints split their home games between Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (1300 miles/2100 km from New Orleans), Tiger Stadium at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (80 miles/130 km from New Orleans) and the Alamodome in San Antonio (540 miles/869 km from New Orleans). Even though the city limits of Baton Rouge are more than 75 miles from New Orleans, the blackout rules normally apply, since affiliates from the media market penetrate within the radius.

Broadcasting history

From infancy to national success

File:Ameche TD Colts.jpg

The "Greatest Game Ever Played" boosted the popularity of the NFL on television.

From the very beginning of the TV era, NBC was a prime innovator in football coverage. They became the first major television network to cover an NFL game, when on October 22, 1939, they televised a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In 1950, the Los Angeles Rams and the Washington Redskins became the first NFL teams to have all their home and road games televised. In that same year, other teams made deals to have selected games broadcast on TV. The DuMont Network then paid a rights fee of $75,000 to televise the 1951 NFL Championship Game across the entire United States.

From 1953 to 1955, DuMont also televised Saturday night NFL games. It was the first time that National Football League games were broadcast live, coast-to-coast, in prime time, for the entire season. The broadcasts ended after the 1955 season, when the DuMont Network folded.

By 1955, NBC became the televised home to the NFL Championship Game, paying $100,000 to the league. The 1958 NFL Championship Game played at Yankee Stadium between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants went into sudden death overtime. This game, known since as the "Greatest Game Ever Played," was seen by many throughout the country and is credited with increasing the popularity of professional football in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

CBS began to televise selected NFL regular season games in 1956.

War with the AFL

See also: AFL-NFL Merger

When the rival American Football League (AFL) began in 1960, they signed a 5-year contract with ABC to cover their games. This became the first ever cooperative television plan for professional football, in which the proceeds of the contract were divided equally among member clubs. ABC and the AFL also introduced moving, on-field cameras (as opposed to the fixed midfield cameras of CBS and the NFL), and were the first to have players "miked" during broadcast games.

The NFL followed suit in 1962 with its own revenue sharing plan after CBS agreed to telecast all regular season games for an annual fee of $4.65 million. CBS' fee later increased to $14.1 million per year in 1964, and $18.8 million per year in 1966.

With NBC paying the AFL $36 million in 1965 to televise its games, and the increased, heated battle over college prospects, both leagues negotiated a merger agreement on June 8, 1966. Although they would not officially merge into one combined league until 1970, one of the conditions of the agreement was that the winners of each league's championship game would meet in a contest to determine the "world champion of football".

The first ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game was played on January 15, 1967. Because CBS held the rights to nationally televise NFL games and NBC had the rights to broadcast AFL games, it was decided to have both of them cover that first game. The next three AFL-NFL World Championship Games, later renamed the Super Bowl, were then divided by the two networks: CBS broadcast Super Bowls II and IV while NBC covered III.

Post AFL-NFL Merger

When the AFL and the NFL officially merged in 1970, the combined league divided its teams into the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). It was then decided that CBS would televise all NFC teams (including playoff games) while NBC all AFC teams. For interconference games, CBS would broadcast them if the visiting team was from the NFC and NBC would carry them when the visitors were from the AFC. (The effect of this was that CBS televised all non-Monday Night games in which an NFC team was the visiting team, and NBC televised all non-Monday Night games in which an AFC team was the visiting team.) The two networks also divided up the Super Bowl on a yearly rotation.

Also, ABC agreed to televise one regular season game per week on Monday night. ABC aired its first edition of Monday Night Football on September 21, 1970. MNF itself pushed the limits of football coverage with its halftime highlights segment, occasional banter from Howard Cosell and Dennis Miller, and celebrity guests such as John Lennon, Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Clinton. During its 36-year run on ABC, Monday Night Football consistently ranked among the most popular primetime broadcasts each week during the NFL season.

As the league's broadcasters, ABC, CBS, and NBC had their own talent. Announcers such as Cosell, Frank Gifford, and Al Michaels (from ABC); Pat Summerall and John Madden (from CBS); and Curt Gowdy, Dick Enberg, Marv Albert, Jim Simpson, Kyle Rote and Jim Lampley (from NBC), all had their own unique analysis of the game. Even the individual networks' football coverage was innovative. For example, CBS' The NFL Today was the first pre-game show to have a female co-host (Phyllis George). On December 20, 1980 NBC made history by broadcasting a game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins with no announcers. NBC has also tried one-announcer football and even the first female play-by-play football announcer (which in its own way, set the mold for female sportscasters of today).

In 1978, the NFL increased their revenue from both ticket sales and TV by expanding the regular season from 14 games to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams, enabling the league to give another post-season game each to CBS and NBC.

Meanwhile, the Super Bowl became a yearly ratings blockbuster, allowing the network that aired it to generate millions of dollars in advertising revenue. Four of the ten highest rated television broadcasts of all-time (in the U.S.) are Super Bowls. When the league signed a new 5-year TV contract with the three networks in 1982, it allowed ABC to enter into the Super Bowl rotation; Super Bowl XIX was the first that ABC televised. Since then, the network that televises each Super Bowl is determined by the TV contracts that the league negotiates with all of its broadcasters. The network broadcasters generally each get one Super Bowl before any of them gets a second one, and the process repeats before any network airs a third one (although the TV contracts usually expire by then).

Expansion to cable and satellite television

The middle of the 1980s ushered in the cable era, and the NFL was eager to exploit that opportunity in 1987.

ESPN became the first cable network to broadcast regular season NFL games. Chris Berman helped redefine the pre- and post-game shows when he launched NFL Countdown and NFL Primetime, and they have since become the top-rated pre- and post-game shows on television. The cable network's contract to show ESPN Sunday Night Football marked a turning point for ESPN, transforming it from a small cable network to a marketing empire.

When ESPN first started televising NFL games in 1987, it only broadcast Sunday night games during the second half of the season. Meanwhile, ABC, CBS, and NBC maintained their rights to Monday Night Football, the NFC, and the AFC, respectively.

By 1990, Turner's TNT network started to broadcast Sunday night games for the first half of the season. The combined 1990 contracts with ABC, CBS, ESPN, NBC, and TNT totaled to $3.6 billion ($900 million per year), the largest in TV history. One major factor in the increased TV rights fee was that the league changed the regular season so that all NFL teams would play their 16-game schedule over a 17-week period. ABC was also given the rights to televise two playoff games per year, which was made possible after the league also expanded its playoff format to include more teams.

In 1994, the league signed an exclusivity agreement with the direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service DirecTV to launch NFL Sunday Ticket, a satellite television subscription service that offers every regular season NFL game.

Broadcast realignments

When new TV contracts were signed in December 1993, CBS (which had been home to NFC games for 38 years) lost their rights to the then-fledging FOX Network. FOX offered a then-record $1.58 billion to the NFL over four years for the rights, significantly more than the $290 million CBS was willing to pay. FOX was only seven years old and had no sports division, but it began building its own coverage by hiring many former CBS personalities such as Summerall and Madden. FOX's NFL rights ownership made the network a major player in American television by giving it many new viewers (and affiliates) and a platform to advertise its other shows. In the meantime, CBS lost several affiliates (mainly owned by New World Communications) to FOX, and ratings for its other programming languished. To this day, CBS admits they have never recovered from the loss of affiliates, primarily in Atlanta, Detroit, and Milwaukee, where they were dropped to lower-powered affiliates unable to be received in some areas. (Because of satellite television, the NFL Sunday Ticket in local markets, and rules of the time, satellite subscribers were required to use antennas to pick up local affiliates. CBS was devastated by the loss of over-the-air availability of these stations in the outer reaches of some markets.)

Meanwhile, NBC's rebound in their overall ratings in both the 1980s and 1990s (after years in the bottom of the ratings cellar) were attributed in part to its continuing coverage of the NFL. But with television contract re-negotiations in early 1998 ushering in the era of multi-billion dollar broadcasting agreements, an era of pro football broadcasting would soon came to an unceremonious conclusion. CBS, stung by FOX's surprise bid four years earlier, aggressively sought to reacquire some broadcasting rights. CBS agreed to pay $4 billion over eight years ($500 million per season) to air AFC games. NBC, meanwhile, had indicated a desire to bid for Monday Night Football rights in 1998, but gave up when the financial stakes skyrocketed. And so, after six decades, NBC, the network that helped define pro football on television, lost its rights to air the NFL, thus marking the beginning of a slow decline for the Peacock network's sports division, resulting in the devastating 2004-05 prime-time season, when NBC carried no major sporting championships during prime-time (NBC had already lost Major League Baseball broadcasting rights in 2000 and National Basketball Association rights in 2002), something the other networks carried. Like CBS before it, NBC would later decide that not having NFL rights did too much damage to its overall ratings to justify not paying the high rights fees required.

The other networks also signed eight-year deals in 1998. FOX extended its NFC deal by agreeing to a $4.4 billion contract ($550 million per season). ABC retained its longtime rights to Monday Night Football by also paying $4.4 billion over eight years. And ESPN agreed to a $4.8 billion ($600 million a season) deal to become the sole cable broadcaster of NFL games, marking an end with the league's association with TNT. And like previous TV contracts, the coverage of the Super Bowl was divided between the broadcast networks.

Establishment of the Thursday Kickoff Game

In 2002, the NFL began scheduling a Thursday night special opening "Kickoff" game, which included a pre-game concert to start the season. The first one, featuring the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants and televised on ESPN, was held on September 5, 2002 largely to celebrate New York City's resilience in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks . The game was such a huge success that the next three Kickoff Games from 2003 to 2005 were given to ABC. Since 2006, NBC has televised the Kickoff game (see below).

The NFL has indicated that the opening game will normally be hosted by the defending Super Bowl champions as the official start of their title defense.

Financial losses lead to another realignment

Currently, the NFL's TV broadcasters have suffered annual financial losses because advertising revenue is unable to meet the cost incurred by the purchase of broadcast rights.

Nevertheless, the current broadcast contract, which began in the 2006 season, resulted in a sizable increase in total rights fees. Both FOX and CBS renewed their Sunday afternoon broadcast packages through 2011, in both cases with modest increases. Furthermore, the league and DirecTV signed a five year extension to their exclusivity deal on NFL Sunday Ticket.

But despite relatively high, if declining, TV ratings, ABC decided to end its relationship with the NFL after losing significant sums of money on Monday Night Football. In addition to the fees issue, part of this decision may have been the result of a resurgent ABC primetime entertainment schedule during the 2004-05 season, particularly on Sunday evening; thus ABC would be unable to satisfy the league's reported preference for a Sunday night game on broadcast television as opposed to Monday.

Because of that, Monday Night Football moved to ESPN, with the cable network paying a large sum of $1.1 billion per year from 2006 to 2014 for the rights to the lucrative franchise. Unlike the broadcast networks, however, ESPN can generate revenue from subscription sales, in addition to traditional commercial breaks. The cable network's coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET with a 90-minute pre-game show, hosted by Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, Michael Irvin, and Steve Young. The game itself then starts at 8:30 p.m., with Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski (replacing Joe Theismann starting in the 2007 season), and Tony Kornheiser in the broadcast booths for the games, while Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya reporting from the sidelines. In addition, other shows such as SportsCenter and Pardon the Interruption will be on location from the site of the game that week.

Meanwhile, NBC, after losing the AFC package to CBS in 1997, has reclaimed its share of the NFL broadcast rights with a deal worth an average of $650 million per year from 2006 to 2012 (not much more than ESPN used to pay for the Monday night package). This new deal gave them the Sunday night package. In addition, the package includes the Super Bowl in 2009 and 2012, a likely means of reversing its current ratings slump. NBC's coverage also includes three preseason games, the first two Wild Card playoff games of each postseason, and the annual Thursday opening Kickoff Game. The network will also have flexibility in selecting games in the final seven weeks of the season, consulting with the league and both CBS and Fox to move one game to the primetime spot in November and December. It is essentially the package ABC previously had.

Coverage of NBC Sunday Night Football starts at 8:15 p.m. ET with Al Michaels serving as the play-by-play announcer, John Madden as color commentator, and Andrea Kremer as the sole sideline reporter. Each telecast begins with a pre-game show airing at 7 p.m. ET entitled Football Night in America, hosted by Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth. Currently, they also serve as co-hosts of HBO's Inside the NFL. Joining Costas and Collinsworth on the show are Tiki Barber, Jerome Bettis, and Keith Olbermann.

In addition, the network that carries the Super Bowl will also broadcast the Pro Bowl on the Saturday night following the championship game. In the calendar year 2007, CBS will broadcast both games, followed by Fox in 2008, and NBC in 2009.

The NFL Network was created by the league in 2003 and given a separate package of games to air. The eight-game package will consist of prime-time games airing from Thanksgiving to the end of the regular season on Thursday nights (five games) and Saturday nights (three games, after the end of the college football season). Long-time sports broadcasters Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth announce the games. The NFL could theoretically decide to sell this package to another network should NFL Network broadcasts not generate enough revenue. NFL Network will also carry the Hall of Fame preseason game, three other preseason games and provide delayed broadcasts of preseason games shown by local stations.

Coverage changes

The style of pro football broadcasting has seen several changes since the 1990s, including female hosts and sideline reporters, visual first-down markers, advanced graphics, and new multi-camera angles. On December 29, [2007], the league made history by let ting the Saturday Night game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants be broadcasted on NFL Network and simulcasted on 2 other networks: CBS andNBC. The league did this because it will decide whether the New England Patriots will become the second team in NFL history to have a perfect regular season.

Thanksgiving Day games

Further information: Thanksgiving Classic

The NFL is a major part of Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States. The Detroit Lions have hosted a game every Thanksgiving Day since 1934 (with the exception of 1939-1944 due to World War II), and they have been nationally televised since 1962. In 1966, the NFL introduced an annual game hosted by the Dallas Cowboys, which they have played every year except in 1975 and 1977 when the St. Louis Cardinals hosted a game instead. However, St. Louis football fans, used to the traditional "Turkey Day Game" between Kirkwood High School and Webster Groves High School as the only local match on Thanksgiving, did not respond well to an NFL game on the same day, and thus Dallas resumed hosting the game in 1978.

When the AFL began holding annual Thanksgiving Day games, the league chose a different model - circulating the game among several cities. During the 1967-69 seasons, two Thanksgiving AFL games were televised each year.

After the 1970 merger, the NFL decided to keep only the traditional Detroit and Dallas games. Due to the broadcast contracts in place since 1970, three NFC teams play on Thanksgiving, as opposed to only one AFC team. During even years, the Lions play their Thanksgiving game against an AFC team, and thus are televised by the network holding the AFC package (NBC and later CBS); the Cowboys host an NFC team and are shown by the network with the NFC package (CBS and later FOX). During odd years, Dallas hosts an AFC team and Detroit plays an NFC opponent. Every decade or so, this even-odd rotation is reversed — with Detroit hosting an NFC team in even years and an AFC team in odd years, and Dallas hosting an AFC team in even years and an NFC team in odd years.

When the league created its new TV package for the NFL Network in 2006, a third Thanksgiving game was added, a prime time event beginning after the first two games had finished. The inaugural NFL Network Thanksgiving Game was between the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Christmas games

In recent years, the NFL has generally scheduled games on Christmas only if it falls on a day normally used for games (Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday). If Christmas falls on a Sunday, as it did in 2005, most of the games will be played on the preceding day (with no games that night or the following afternoon in deference to the holiday), and then one or two games are scheduled for Christmas Night to be broadcast nationally. One game would be held over for the regular Monday night time-slot and one would already have been played on Thursday. Through the 2006 season, there have been 14 such Christmas contests.

Prior to 1970 AFL-NFL Merger, the NFL regular season usually ended in mid-December, with the NFL Championship Game being held on the Sunday two weeks later. If that Sunday fell on Christmas Day December 25, the league preferred to move it to the following day Monday December 26; this rescheduling occurred for both the 1955 and the 1960 championship games.

The first NFL games actually played on December 25 came after the merger during the 1971 season. The first two games of the Divisional Playoff Round were held on Christmas Day. However, the second of the two contests played that day, the Miami Dolphins versus the Kansas City Chiefs, wound up being the longest game in NFL history. Because of the length of this game, the league received numerous complaints, reportedly due to the fact that it caused havoc with Christmas dinners around the nation. As a result, the NFL decided to not schedule any Christmas Day matches for the 17 years that followed.

This required considerable effort during those years in which Christmas fell on a Saturday or a Sunday, given that ordinarily those days would be days in which NFL playoff games were to be held. In 1976, the NFL opened its regular season a week earlier than they would have ordinarily have been the case (September 12, the second Sunday of the month, rather than the customary third Sunday) so that the Divisional Playoffs could be held on December 18 and December 19 instead of December 25 and December 26, and thus no games would be needed on Saturday, December 25. In 1977, with Christmas falling on a Sunday, the Divisional Playoff Games were held around the holiday, with an AFL doubleheader on Saturday, December 24, and an NFC doubleheader on Monday, December 26.

The NFL continued to avoid Christmas even after it started to increase the regular season and the playoffs. The league expanded to a 16-game regular season and a 10-team playoff tournament in 1978, but it was not until 1982 that the regular season ended after Christmas. It was originally scheduled to end on Sunday, December 26, but the regular season was extended to Sunday, January 2, 1983 after the 57-day NFL players' strike reduced the season from 16 games to 9; the NFL compensated by extending the regular season one week and eliminating the off week between the conference championships and the Super Bowl. In 1983 and again in 1988, the NFL split the first round Wild Card Playoffs between Saturday, December 24 and Monday, December 26 to avoid a Christmas game. Finally, in 1989, the NFL tried another Christmas Day game, the Cincinnati Bengals at the Minnesota Vikings, but it was a 9 p.m. ET Monday Night Football contest, thereby avoiding interfering with family dinners. In the years since, the NFL has played an occasional late-afternoon or night game on the holiday; but there has not been a Christmas Day game starting earlier than 5 p.m. ET since 1971.

All-time results

Season	Visiting Team	Score	Home Team
1971	Dallas Cowboys	20-12	Minnesota Vikings
	Miami Dolphins	27-24	Kansas City Chiefs
1989	Cincinnati Bengals	21-29	Minnesota Vikings
1993	Houston Oilers	10-7	San Francisco 49ers
1994	Detroit Lions	20-27	Miami Dolphins
1995	Dallas Cowboys	37-13	Arizona Cardinals
1999	Denver Broncos	17-7	Detroit Lions
2000	Dallas Cowboys	0-31	Tennessee Titans
2004	Oakland Raiders	30-31	Kansas City Chiefs
	Denver Broncos	37-16	Tennessee Titans
2005	Chicago Bears	24-17	Green Bay Packers
	Minnesota Vikings	23-30	Baltimore Ravens
2006	Philadelphia Eagles	23-7	Dallas Cowboys
	New York Jets	13-10	Miami Dolphins

Notes ^ *: Playoff game
^ **: 2OT

Christmas Eve

There have also been several games played on Christmas Eve over the years, the most famous of these being a Oakland Raiders-Baltimore Colts playoff contest in 1977 which culminated in a play immortalized as "Ghost to the Post". These games have typically been played during the afternoon out of deference to the holiday. If Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, then most of the weekend's NFL games will be on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, except for a few games held over for the Sunday and Monday TV packages.

In 2007, the league scheduled its first-ever prime time Christmas Eve game, when the Denver Broncos met the San Diego Chargers in San Diego for a Monday Night Football contest on December 24. This game had a 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET) start time.

New Year's games

The NFL also never plays games on New Year's Day in any year in which January 1 is a non-Sunday, deferring to the numerous New Year's Day college football bowl games that are traditionally held on that day. However, when New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the traditional bowl games are moved to Monday, January 2, allowing NFL games to be played on the 1st. Previously, the AFL played its first league championship game on January 1 1961. Thereafter, Pro Football has been played on New Year's Day in 1967 (the 1966 NFL and AFL Championship Games), in 1978 (the 1977 NFC and AFC Championship Games), in 1984 (the 1983 NFC and AFC Divisional Playoff Games), in 1989 (the 1988 NFC and AFC Divisional Playoff Games), in 1995 (the 1994 NFC and AFC Divisional Playoff Games), and in 2006 (the final weekend of the 2005 regular season).

Monday Night Football

Main article: Monday Night Football

Between 1970 and 1977, and again since 2003, there has been no Monday Night game during the last week of the season. From 1978 until 2002, a season-ending Monday Night game was scheduled. The 2003 revision permits the NFL to have all eight teams involved in the Wild Card playoffs to have equal time in preparation, instead of the possibility of one or two teams having a short week of preparation for their playoff game if they were picked to play on Saturday, instead of Sunday. Note, however, that this scenario, in which a team finishing its season on Monday night had a playoff game the following Saturday, never occurred.

There have been a few occasions when two Monday night games were played simultaneously. In 1987, a scheduling conflict arose when Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins went to Game 7 of the World Series, making the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome unavailable for the Minnesota Vikings' scheduled game that Sunday. The Vikings game was subsequently moved to Monday night, and ABC aired it in a split telecast with the regularly-scheduled MNF game. A similar scenario unfolded in 1997, when the Florida Marlins went to Game 7 of the World Series and the Miami Dolphins' Sunday game at Pro Player Stadium was shifted to Monday night. In 2005, the New Orleans Saints played the New York Giants in a rescheduled game due to Hurricane Katrina; the Saints-Giants game began at 7:30 p.m. before being switched over to ABC's corporate sister network ESPN at 9 p.m. so ABC could show the regularly scheduled match-up between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins. The Saints-Giants game was seen in its entirety in New York, Louisiana and other hurricane-affected areas on ABC, with the regularly-scheduled MNF game shown on ESPN until the end of the first game.

In 2006, ESPN opened the season with a Monday Night Football doubleheader, with a 7 p.m. game and a 10:30 p.m. both shown in their entirety nationwide. This was repeated in 2007. On Christmas 2006, which fell on a Monday, the Dallas Cowboys clashed with the Philadelphia Eagles on an NBC special in the late afternoon, and later the New York Jets played the Miami Dolphins for ESPN's usual Monday Night game.

NFL broadcasters

• NBC
  • 1939, 1955-1963: (NFL)
  • 1965-1969: (AFL)
  • 1970-1997: (AFC)
  • 2006-2012: Sunday Night Football
• CBS
  • 1956-1969: (NFL)
  • 1970-1993: (NFC)
  • 1998-2011: (AFC)
• DuMont Television Network
  • 1951-1954: (NFL)
• ABC
  • 1948, 1950: (NFL)
  • 1960-1964: (AFL)
  • 1970-2005: Monday Night Football
• ESPN
  • 1987-1997: Sunday Night Football (second half of season)
  • 1998-2005: Sunday Night Football (entire season)
  • 2006-2014: Monday Night Football
• TNT
  • 1990-1997: Sunday Night Football (first half of season)
• FOX
  • 1994-2011: (NFC)
• NFL Network
  • 2006-2012 (Run to the Playoffs Thursday & Saturday night)
• MyNetworkTV
  • 2007 - Present: NFL Total Access
• ION Television
  • 2007 - Present: NFL Films Game of the Week and Stories of the NFL

List of NFL television contracts

Since 1982

Period	AFC Package	NFC Package	Sunday Night	Monday Night	Thu/Sat Night	Total Amount
1982-1986	NBC	CBS	None	ABC		$420 million/yr
1987-1989	NBC	CBS	ESPN (2nd half)	ABC		$473 million/yr
1990-1993	NBC	CBS	TNT (1st half) ESPN (2nd half)	ABC		$900 million/yr
1994-1997	NBC	FOX ($395 million/yr)	TNT (1st half) ESPN (2nd half)	ABC		$1.1 billion/yr
1998-2005	CBS ($500 million/yr)	FOX ($550 million/yr)	ESPN ($600 million/yr)	ABC ($550 million/yr)	ESPN	$2.2 billion/yr
2006-2011	CBS ($622.5 million/yr)	FOX ($712.5 million/yr)	NBC ($650 million/yr)	ESPN ($1.1 billion/yr)	NFL Network (N/A)	$3.735 billion/yr

• ESPN's Sunday Night Football contract included selected Thursday night and Saturday night games in December. Through 2001, the contract included one Thursday night game in October (the weekend of games 1-2 of the World Series), in lieu of the Sunday night game that weekend. In 2002, the night game was eliminated altogether for that weekend, and replaced with the NFL Kickoff game. In 2003, the NFL Kickoff game moved to ABC, and ESPN filled the void with another late-season Saturday night game.
• NBC's contract runs through 2012, and ESPN's contract runs through 2014. NFL Network's current arrangement will continue through the 2012 season.
• Since the NFL Network is owned by the league, there was no rights fee paid for the 8-game Run to the Playoffs package.

Leverage over the networks

The NFL's status as a prime offering by the networks has led some to conclude that unbiased coverage of the league is not possible, although this may be true of most sports. ESPN attempted to run a dramatic series showing steamier aspects of pro football, Playmakers, but dropped the series after the league reportedly threatened to exclude the network from carrying its games under the next set of TV contracts.

The NFL also has a strict policy prohibiting networks to run ads during official NFL programming (pre and post-game studio shows and the games themselves) from the gambling industry, and has rejected some ads from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Commissioner Roger Goodell explained in 2007 that he did not think it behooved the sport to associate with sports betting. Additionally, the networks and their announcers cannot discuss or run graphics showing point spreads during NFL shows (Al Michaels, among other announcers, routinely alludes to them on-air particularly at the end of the game where a seemingly insignificant score can have a major effect on the pointspread outcome.) Most teams also insert similar clauses into their radio contracts, which are locally negotiated. The NFL injury report and required videotaping of practice are theoretically intended to prevent gamblers from gaining inside information. In contrast, fantasy football is often free to play.

At the start of the game, "Name of broadcaster welcomes you to the following presentation of the National Football League" is announced, while at the end of the game, the message is "Name of broadcaster thanks you for watching this presentation of the National Football League". This NFL-mandated announcement is designed to separate game coverage from news, sports analysis, or entertainment programming not under the NFL contract and NFL ownership. Also, since 1998, the NFL has owned the rights to game broadcasts once they air--a copyright disclaimer airs either before the start of the second half or after the first commercial break of the second half, depending on the broadcaster ("This telecast is copyrighted by the NFL for the private use of our audience, and any other use of this telecast or of any pictures, descriptions or accounts of the game without the NFL's consent is prohibited"). On the other hand, ESPN holds the copyright on its Monday Night Football telecasts (their notice appears at the end of their games). However, only the NFL Network can re-air games; they pick a few each week.

Further, the NFL imposes restrictions on sponsored segments during game coverage (this does not apply to national radio broadcasts). These are permitted only prior to kickoff, during halftime, and following the game (once the "...welcomes you to the following presentation.." notice appears, the restrictions take effect until half-time, and again until the game ends); however, these segments (and other programming with title sponsorships, particularly halftime and post-game shows or other sports properties) can be promoted a couple of times during game coverage, and "aerial footage" providers (i.e. sponsored blimps) may be acknowledged, usually once an hour as is standard in other sports. Other acknowledgments (including HDTV or Skycam-type camera sponsorships) are limited to pre-kickoff and post-game credits.

Finally, sideline reporters are restricted as to whom they can speak to and when (usually a head coach at halftime, and one or two players after the game ends). Information on injured players or rules interpretations are relayed from NFL off-field officials to the TV producers in the truck, who then pass it along to the sideline reporters or booth announcers. Thus, CBS opted in 2006 to no longer use sideline reporters except for some playoff games.

NFL Films

The NFL owns NFL Films, whose duties include providing game film to media outlets for highlight shows after a 2-3 day window in which outlets can use original game broadcast highlights.

Outside United States

• Brazil - ESPN Brasil, Bandsports
• Canada - CTV, TSN
• UK - Sky Sports, Five

See also

• List of current NFL announcers

References

• NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
• America's Game: How Pro Football Captured A Nation by Michael MacCambridge (ISBN 0-375-50454-0)
• NFL to remain on broadcast TV
• NFL announces new prime-time TV packages
• CleverDonkey.com: The NFL Should Bench Its Blackout Rules
• NFL Sunday Ticket from DirecTV
• NFL Network to televise regular-season games
• Process of game-time decisions will eliminate TV duds, create chaos by Michael Hiestand, USA Today, April 5, 2006 (Last accessed April 5, 2006)