Now that the NFL, the richest sports league in the world, sits unchallenged atop American sports, that lofty perch raises its own questions: How can you sustain growth and popularity without falling prey to complacency—or greed? How do you further grow a successful league while fending off platform decay and lawsuits? What threats are out there, and what are the league’s tactics to defang them? What are some unchartered territories for the league? In its annual NFL preview, Sportico analyzes how the NFL handles life as a monopoly. Click here to read the series.
Netflix is now spending roughly $1 billion annually on live events, but in sports it has continued to chase individual pieces of marquee programming rather than season-long tie-ups.
Beginning this year, Netflix is reportedly paying $50 million per season to cover MLB’s Home Run Derby, an Opening Night game and one other special-event baseball contest. It spent another $200 million to broadcast next summer’s women’s World Cup. And given how much NFL game broadcast rights often cost, Netflix is believed to be paying up to $500 million for a slate of five games this season. The tech giant will once again stream a Christmas doubleheader, and it has added a Week 1 game from Australia on Thursday evening (U.S. time), a Thanksgiving Eve contest and a Week 18 matchup expected to have playoff implications. Standalone darts and tennis events are also on the streamer’s upcoming calendar.
