Most NFL fans are following the offseason "hot stove league" of quarterbacks. Where will Deshaun Watson end up? Will the 49ers get rid of Jimmy Garoppolo? Is there any way Sam Darnold doesn't go to Chicago? Will Ben Roethlisberger finish his transformation into a life-size mannequin?
But that's not good enough for those of us NFL fans who are also total geeks and who also can't afford a PlayStation 5. We all know the real money is in the TV contracts. And guess what? They're up.
Actually, they aren't up until 2022. But the NFL reportedly wants to re-up their deals with the networks now, before the official start of the NFL season in March.
And the NFL wants to get paid.
Apparently, the league wants to nearly double the rights to air the games. That means CBS and Fox, the two biggest customers, will have to fork over nearly $2 billion per year.
$2 billion. Per year.
That's enough for, like, three beers at Dodger Stadium.*
According to some reports, and by some reports I mean the first few entries to come up on my Google search, Disney is pushing back on this. Disney feels it's paying too much for the NFL as it is. The company is afraid that, if there's another price hike, Disney might have to raise the price of tickets to Disney World. Already, the cost of a one-day family pass to the Magic Kingdom is about the same as the entire gross national product of Kenya.
Not including that hat.
Seriously, though, Disney has a point.
When ESPN first bought the rights to Monday Night Football back in 2006, they paid $1.1 billion for it. That doubled the rights from a year prior, when ABC had paid $550 million. Yes, ESPN outbid ABC. Despite the fact that ABC owned ESPN. I would explain it further but I didn't pay attention in economics class.
Anyway, ESPN gave up Sunday Night Football to get MNF. They had paid $600 million for Sunday Night games. NBC picked it up, for a slight raise of $650 million.
So, NBC pays $650 million for a forgettable package. ESPN paid $1.1 billion for a prime time stalwart.
The first game the NFL gave NBC? Colts vs. Giants, the first ever matchup between Peyton and Eli Manning.
The first Monday Night game for ESPN? San Diego vs. Oakland, a 27-0 snoozefest between the two worst teams in the AFC West.
And it continued that way: Jags over Steelers 9-0, Saints over Falcons 23-3, Eagles over Packers 31-9, Broncos over Ravens 13-3...
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera
ESPN obviously felt that they weren't paying enough for these non-marquee games, because they re-upped in 2014 for $1.9 billion.
NFL is justifying all this by saying that, hey, ESPN also has SportsCenter, and this package gives them the rights to show NFL highlights. Well, maybe so, but NBC has a whole 90-minute pregame show which shows nothing but NFL highlights.
And Jac Collinsworth. Too much Jac Collinsworth.
Look, I get it. The NFL wants paid for that extra Week 18. And for those two additional wild card games. I'm sure that's work a couple billion dollars. Maybe the NFL should think about adding two more weeks, giving each team 18 games with two bye weeks. Then increase the playoffs to 30 teams, insuring that only fans in Cincinnati and Jacksonville would face disappointment.
You know, with all that money, Roger Goodell could afford to take his whole family to Disney World for two days.
Follow Bill on the Twitter @WildLegend and bid on the rights to re-air Bill's playoff run with the Browns on Madden.
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*--Or four hot dogs.
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