The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Streamer Pays $110 Million For Exclusive Rights To 1 NFL Playoff Game

RadioActive · May 15, 2023 9:45 pm

No, that wasn't a typo. Peacock, the streaming service owned by NBCUniversal, has forked over the enormous cash fee to broadcast one - yes, just one, NFL playoff game toward the end of the season. The eye-popping price tag guarantees the online entity an exclusive it obviously hopes will spur subscriptions.

But $110 million for a single game? The mind reels at the cost per ticket! Fans in the U.S. are furious over the deal, even if they have no idea exactly which teams will be affected yet.

But there's another question here. Peacock is currently only available in the U.S., meaning Canadians can't legally subscribe even if they wanted to. I suspect that means that game may well turn up here on one of the traditional outlets, whether it be cable or even OTA. It also means those on the border may be able to pull in those signals using an antenna. We'll have to wait and see if this is a North American exclusive or only applicable in the U.S.

It's another first when it comes to streaming, which already has dibs on some exclusive baseball games. And the next one that will affect us comes this Friday May 19th, when the only way to see the Jays play Baltimore is either at the stadium - or on Apple TV. It will not be on Sportsnet.

NFL on Peacock: Football fans furious over NBC's plans to show 2023 playoff game exclusively on streaming service

cash · May 15, 2023 9:53 pm

This will be on CTV/TSN in Canada. They have the rights to all NFL playoff games in Canada.

Radiowiz · May 15, 2023 9:56 pm

Stacked TV in Canada usually picks up anything Peacock.

Radiowiz · May 15, 2023 9:59 pm

cash wrote:
This will be on CTV/TSN in Canada. They have the rights to all NFL playoff games in Canada.

This one game might not be part of the rights.

cash · May 15, 2023 10:07 pm

Radiowiz wrote:
cash wrote:
This will be on CTV/TSN in Canada. They have the rights to all NFL playoff games in Canada.
This one game might not be part of the rights.

They locked up the rights to all the playoff and super bowls for years. They will just pick up the Peacock feed.

Radiowiz · May 15, 2023 10:25 pm

cash wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:
cash wrote:
This will be on CTV/TSN in Canada. They have the rights to all NFL playoff games in Canada.
This one game might not be part of the rights.
They locked up the rights to all the playoff and super bowls for years. They will just pick up the Peacock feed.

Where does it read "But Canadians can watch the game here on TSN"?
All I read is "Peacock will exclusively carry NFL playoff game; first time for streaming service..."

TSN did not mention their rights: (they even remind people that Peacock is $4.99)
https://www.tsn.ca/peacock-will-exclusively-carry-nfl-playoff-game-first-time-for-streaming-service-1.1960866

Last edited by Radiowiz (May 15, 2023 10:28 pm)

cash · May 15, 2023 10:37 pm

Radiowiz wrote:
cash wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:

This one game might not be part of the rights.
They locked up the rights to all the playoff and super bowls for years. They will just pick up the Peacock feed.

Where does it read "But Canadians can watch the game here on TSN"?
All I read is "Peacock will exclusively carry NFL playoff game; first time for streaming service..."

TSN did not mention their rights: (they even remind people that Peacock is $4.99)
https://www.tsn.ca/peacock-will-exclusively-carry-nfl-playoff-game-first-time-for-streaming-service-1.1960866

There were games on Prime last year. TSN picked up the Prime feed. This is not a Canadian issue.

RadioAaron · May 15, 2023 10:46 pm

Radiowiz wrote:
cash wrote:
Radiowiz wrote:

This one game might not be part of the rights.
They locked up the rights to all the playoff and super bowls for years. They will just pick up the Peacock feed.

Where does it read "But Canadians can watch the game here on TSN"?
All I read is "Peacock will exclusively carry NFL playoff game; first time for streaming service..."

TSN did not mention their rights: (they even remind people that Peacock is $4.99)
https://www.tsn.ca/peacock-will-exclusively-carry-nfl-playoff-game-first-time-for-streaming-service-1.1960866

While that article is on TSN's website, it's posted by CP. via AP, via NFL and NBC press releases. Cash is correct.

paterson1 · May 15, 2023 10:48 pm

So, Peacock lost $2.5 billion last year, and is forecast to lose $3 billion this year. This sounds more like a desperation move. Don't really see or understand how one football game will increase subscriptions in the long term. People may pay for one month to watch the game, and then cancel. Doesn't Peacock show a lot of NBC programming one day after the network?

This is a major coup for CTV/TSN. They already feature NFL games that are only available on Amazon in the US. So how is the Peacock game any different? And Bell recently extended their contract for exclusive rights in Canada for all the playoff and Super Bowl games as cash mentions above.

RadioAaron · May 15, 2023 10:52 pm

paterson1 wrote:
This is a major coup for CTV/TSN.

How so? They get 100% of the Canadian ratings and revenue regardless of whether the game is network or streaming in the US.

paterson1 · May 15, 2023 11:22 pm

It is a coup since it looks like CTV/TSN will be showing the game. Not for any ratings or revenue gain necessarily but this makes both networks more valuable. and a more complete and a better service for NFL fans here.

However it hasn't happened yet, so we need to see how this plays out and how angry football fans in the US are with the NFL.

RadioAaron · May 16, 2023 12:02 am

paterson1 wrote:
It is a coup since it looks like CTV/TSN will be showing the game. Not for any ratings or revenue gain necessarily but this makes both networks more valuable. and a more complete and a better service for NFL fans here.

However it hasn't happened yet, so we need to see how this plays out and how angry football fans in the US are with the NFL.

They're showing the game they would have otherwise shown! What a coup!

Tomas Barlow · May 16, 2023 12:34 am

I wish Canadians would learn that when a Canadian broadcaster gets the exclusive Canadian rights to the NFL it means exactly that. It doesn't matter if the game is shown on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, Amazon Prime, or Peacock in the US. That's why they're the EXCLUSIVE Canadian rights. It's not a coup for CTV or TSN to show the games they paid for the rights to.

mace · May 16, 2023 1:36 am

The Peacock game will be available on OTA television in the home and visiting team markets. This rule also applies to the Amazon Thursday and ESPN Monday telecasts.

paterson1 · May 16, 2023 9:44 am

Tomas Barlow wrote:
I wish Canadians would learn that when a Canadian broadcaster gets the exclusive Canadian rights to the NFL it means exactly that. It doesn't matter if the game is shown on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, Amazon Prime, or Peacock in the US. That's why they're the EXCLUSIVE Canadian rights. It's not a coup for CTV or TSN to show the games they paid for the rights to.

Sportsnet supposedly had exclusive Canadian rights to all Blue Jays games. In fact they don't since MLB baseball made a deal with Apple+ to televise a few Blue Jay's games that Sportsnet now can't broadcast. This happened last year and again this year.

For this one off with Peacock, I am sure Bell's agreement with the NFL won't be effected. Peacock is not available in Canada, however as pointed out above Stack TV does pick up Peacock's original programming.

It is a coup for CTV/TSN in the sense that they already negotiated rights for all of the playoff games where all of the US networks and streamers that carry the NFL did not or couldn't. This game exclusive with Peacock is new. So this makes CTV/TSN an even better choice for watching NFL.

But let's see how all of this plays out. The game is a long way off.