The last of our NFL announcements today. This comes from CBS Sports which is crowing about the ability to air some NFC games starting in 2014. Back in 1993, it lost the rights to the NFC to Fox. Then in 1998, CBS fought to get back into the NFL by wresting AFC games away from NBC. And it kept the American Football Conference rights in the last negotiation in 2005.
Now under the new contract that takes effect in 2014, here’s what CBS will have:
- Remains home to the AFC and AFC Championship every year.
- Home to three Super Bowls including the milestone Super Bowl L (50) in 2016.
- The right to air various NFC games.
- Expanded flex scheduling meaning exchanging games with Fox for better matchups in the 4:15 p.m. ET window.
Here’s the press release from CBS Corporation.
CBS AND NFL REACH NEW NINE-YEAR BROADCAST RIGHTS AGREEMENT THROUGH 2022 SEASON
CBS Sports Remains Broadcast Home of NFL’s American Football Conference
Expanded “Flexible Scheduling” Gives CBS Rights to National Football Conference Games as Well
CBS Television Network to Broadcast Super Bowl L, Super Bowl LIII and Super Bowl LVI In Addition to Super Bowl XLVII in 2013
NEW YORK, December 14, 2011 – The National Football League announced today that CBS has been awarded a new nine-year broadcast rights agreement that runs through the 2022 season. In the new deal, CBS Sports remains the broadcast home of the NFL’s American Football Conference (AFC). In addition, as part of the NFL’s expanded “flexible scheduling,” CBS will also broadcast games from the National Football Conference (NFC). This will be the first time CBS will broadcast AFC and NFC matchups in the same season. CBS will broadcast Super Bowl L in 2016, Super Bowl LIII in 2019 and Super Bowl LVI in 2022, in addition to Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans in 2013.
“The NFL provides terrific, exciting programming to our viewers week-in and week-out,” said Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation. “No other franchise delivers ratings the way an NFL game does. The League has proven time and again that it understands the importance of a healthy broadcast partner, and this historic new agreement strengthens that partnership. In addition, the deal continues CBS’s ability to be profitable with the NFL throughout the coming decade and beyond.”
“CBS has been broadcasting the NFL for 52 years, and we are extremely pleased to extend our long-term partnership,” said Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports. “This commitment is further proof of the valued relationship CBS shares with the NFL and of the overall strength of CBS Sports. The opportunity to add quality NFC games greatly enhances our television package. We look forward to continued growth as we broadcast the NFL for many more years to come.”
Twelve of CBS’s 14 owned stations are in NFL markets, including New York, San Francisco/Oakland, Boston, Miami, Denver, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, which are all AFC markets.
This new deal is the longest ever with the NFL and its broadcast partners, surpassing the eight-year deal from 1998-2005. CBS Sports, which first began televising NFL regular-season games in 1956 and this season marks its 52nd season, had broadcast rights to the National Football Conference package from 1970 through 1993. The Network began televising American Football Conference games in 1998.
That will conclude the NFL announcements. You just never know what will happen on a given day. It’s why the sports media beat is full-time. I’m happy to be able to provide the information to you.
