Malefic74
Registered User
Did anyone else see the TV deal the NFL finalized yesterday? For the rights for FOX to broadcast the NFC on Sundays and for CBS to broadcast the AFC on Sundays through 2011 the NFL received $8 BILLION. And that's not all. They are still negotiating with ESPN for Sunday Nights and ABC for Monday Nights.
That breaks down to roughly 250 million per team and over 7 years is nearly 36 million per year. That is nearly half of each teams salary cap number. Now if you add the other two TV deals to come, merchandising, parking, concessions and admissions for 80,000 seat stadiums 8 times a year or more and it is pretty easy to see how these franchises can make money in the tough racket that is sports.
Bettman was right about one thing when he took the job all those years ago... TV is the engine that drives sports. He made it his biggest priority. Unfortunately he never got that big deal he was looking for, and that became his single biggest failing. All the expansion and all the rule changes were made for the sake of chasing those TV deals. It didn't happen and should have cost Bettman his support if not his job.
That breaks down to roughly 250 million per team and over 7 years is nearly 36 million per year. That is nearly half of each teams salary cap number. Now if you add the other two TV deals to come, merchandising, parking, concessions and admissions for 80,000 seat stadiums 8 times a year or more and it is pretty easy to see how these franchises can make money in the tough racket that is sports.
Bettman was right about one thing when he took the job all those years ago... TV is the engine that drives sports. He made it his biggest priority. Unfortunately he never got that big deal he was looking for, and that became his single biggest failing. All the expansion and all the rule changes were made for the sake of chasing those TV deals. It didn't happen and should have cost Bettman his support if not his job.