Key Points
A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sport newsletter with Alex Sherman, which brings you the biggest news and exclusive interviews from the worlds of sports business and media. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. Next week, the media world will descend upon New York City for annual upfront advertising presentations. The week begins with NBCUniversal’s pitch in Radio City Music Hall, followed by Fox, Amazon, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix and YouTube. This year should cement a trend that became noticeable last year when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell showed up at both YouTube’s upfront and Netflix’s – wearing a Santa-inspired parka to the latter. Other than Warner Bros. Discovery, which, barring government intervention, is making its final upfront presentation next week before merging with Paramount Skydance later this year, every major media company will be showcasing its NFL programming. While the exact day is still in flux, the NFL plans to announce its full 2026 schedule next week on Wednesday or Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The schedule will include a slight increase in its broadcast footprint from last year, which may make the government happy, said the person, who asked to remain unnamed because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission have been looking into the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act, which gives the NFL a limited antitrust exemption in return for making its games available on broadcast networks. For NBCU, next week’s pitch will include the value of “Sunday Night Football,” the most-watched show on U.S. television for the last 15 years. Fox will tout how the NFL had its highest ratings on the network since 2015 last year, averaging 19.63 million viewers. Amazon will brag about the audience for “Thursday Night Football,” which has increased a whopping 60% since coming to Prime Video in 2022 and how last year’s audience was its biggest ever. Disney may be the most NFL-forward of all this year. For the time ever, ESPN will broadcast the Super Bowl in 2027. For those without cable — or who aren’t ESPN digital subscribers — the game will also be simulcast on ABC. Disney has already launched a marketing campaign around the big game, with cross-company Super Bowl-related initiatives throughout ESPN and the rest of Disney. Goodell will be in attendance at the Javits Center for Disney’s upfront presentation on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter. Spokespeople for the NFL and ESPN declined to comment. There was some good news and some bad news on the sports front in Disney’s earnings this week. The good news is there’s evidence that ESPN’s digital subscription service is working. Disney said revenue generated by streaming subscribers “more than offset secular declines in the linear subscriber universe.” In plain English, Disney got more money from people who subscribed to the ESPN app for $29.99 per month than it lost money from people who canceled cable last quarter. The bad news is Disney expects its fiscal third-quarter sports segment operating income to decline 14% year over year due to increased sports programming fees. That probably means the price of ESPN Unlimited will be going higher soon enough. And more grim news – operating income for the sports segment fell 5% in the company’s fiscal second quarter to $652 million. It remains ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro’s job to figure out a growth plan for a unit that will surely have to pay a boatload more to retain Monday Night Football if the NFL reopens media rights negotiations earlier than scheduled. “We haven’t engaged yet with the league on early renewal conversations, but we’re not dogmatic about the process, and we’re always willing to have a conversation with the NFL to find new opportunities for growth,” Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said during Disney’s earnings conference call Wednesday. “We expect to be in business with the league for years to come, and we’ll of course, evaluate this deal as we would any deal with discipline and a focus on driving value for Disney shareholders.” Finally, Netflix and YouTube will both use the NFL as evidence of their growing influence in both sports and live programming during upfront presentations. The four games that ESPN gave back to the league as part of the league’s sale of NFL Network to Disney earlier this year will be divvied up between YouTube and Netflix, according to people familiar with the matter. The league is also expected to add an additional game for one of the big global streamers, said the people, who asked not to to be named because the schedule details are still private. Two of the games likely going to Netflix will be the Week 1 Australia game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams and the Thanksgiving Eve game, Puck reported Thursday. Netflix will also return with two Christmas Day games this year – the last year of a three-year deal. Netflix would like to renew that deal with the NFL, according to a person familiar with the matter. Still, that may be contingent on restricted inventory. Part of the reason Christmas makes sense for Netflix is the games are inherently special. If the NFL were to dole out more Christmas games than just two or three, the day would begin to feel less special – and perhaps less desirable for Netflix.
