Year of the Rocket: John Candy, Wayne Gretzky, a Crooked Tycoon, and the Craziest Season in Football History (https://sutherlandhousebooks.com/pro...of-the-rocket/)
Bouncing Back: From National Joke to Grey Cup Champs (https://bit.ly/3fvip5x)
YOTR YouTube https://bit.ly/37jtG4f
BB YouTube https://bit.ly/2TSYPs7
NFL networks have 70+ million subscribers @ $200 US per season each. $40M Canadian is approx 5 cents per subscriber per month. They can afford it and the CFL has earned it. Also NFL needs to keep CFL strong as the CFL works well with the NFL. Any other US league (XFL) it will be difficult to get a foot hold in the US if the CFL pays players more than they do. This is insurance for the NFL in the US.
As I said, I'll take the bet. What the CFL "has earned" is whatever someone is willing to pay them. I simply can't believe NFLN will pay $40M Cdn/season for CFL rights. Would love to lose the bet, but I don't think I will. As for what will keep the XFL at bay, I suggest it has far more to do with the Big 4 networks all being under contract to the NFL than it does with the CFL paying its players more.
Year of the Rocket: John Candy, Wayne Gretzky, a Crooked Tycoon, and the Craziest Season in Football History (https://sutherlandhousebooks.com/pro...of-the-rocket/)
Bouncing Back: From National Joke to Grey Cup Champs (https://bit.ly/3fvip5x)
YOTR YouTube https://bit.ly/37jtG4f
BB YouTube https://bit.ly/2TSYPs7
I think you are confusing the NFL network price for the NFL ticket price. They are not related. NFL network is actually a free part of digital cable subscriptions in the US, and really has not been a big money maker for the league, which is why they stopped producing Thursday night games themselves and contracted CBS and NBC to start doing it.
And regarding any other league, do you really think the NFL worries about that? Vince McMahon has put aside 100M to possibly start up the XFL again. Players in that league will not be making anywhere near the minimum NFL salary, and since he will own the league entirely as he did the first time, there will be no real allegiance among fans. It would fail again, just as everything he has ever done outside of wrestling has.
It's us vs the rest of the country
Right now TSN is paying $35+ Million a year just for the Ottawa Senators LOCAL TV rights. The CFL TV rights are National and for the entire league, not just one team.
http://ottawasun.com/2014/01/29/live...9-0c9352b14533
TSN is massively under paying for the Canadian CFL Canadian TV rights.
The US has ten times our population and the CFL is putting up good numbers with little or no promotion. Do you really think it's a coincidence that all this talk of moving the season up is gaining traction at the same time that the US CFL TV deal is about to expire?
I have no doubt the league thinks it might get a big score from US TV. And I have little to no doubt it will not come even close to getting $40M/year for spring and summer coverage of a league that most Americans do not follow or care about.
The league is smart to see if it can increase revenues -- in fact, I argued many times that increasing revenue and growing the business was the primary factor they should look for in a new commissioner -- but that doesn't mean a windfall is about to happen.
What TSN pays for local hockey rights is completely irrelevant in this discussion, as is what TSN pays the CFL. Whether or not Bell is getting a bargain in its CFL deal is a matter of conjecture, but I can guarantee NFL Network does not base its programming purchase decisions on any economics other than how any deal would affect its own bottom line.
Year of the Rocket: John Candy, Wayne Gretzky, a Crooked Tycoon, and the Craziest Season in Football History (https://sutherlandhousebooks.com/pro...of-the-rocket/)
Bouncing Back: From National Joke to Grey Cup Champs (https://bit.ly/3fvip5x)
YOTR YouTube https://bit.ly/37jtG4f
BB YouTube https://bit.ly/2TSYPs7
This part I don't agree with, and whether these two things can be conflated or not.
It says to me the CFL is being underpaid for what it is delivering but that doesn't mean TSN has to give the CFL more than they do the Sens. It's TSN's choice and the unfortunate part is the CFL doesn't have much choice. Maybe their best option is to try and parcel out games to different carriers, hopefully one of which is an OTA network. As a member of the growing cord cutter club I'd like to see the CFL back on CTV and CBC.
What TSN pays the CFL and the Senators absolutely has relevance to the CFL and to the Senators, but it has zero relevance to the NFL Network. It will pay whatever it pays, if anything, based on what CFL rights are worth to the NFL Network, not based on what TSN is paying for hockey or football.
The CFL signed the current rights agreement with Bell in good faith. Both parties agreed on the price. If the CFL got taken to the cleaners (which a lot of people who have no access to Bell's profit-and-loss statements for CFL broadcasts seem to take for granted), the CFL has no one to blame but itself.
If the CFL can negotiate a bigger score next time the contract is up, either with Bell or with someone else, or a combination, great! But like all negotiations, it will end with a number all parties can agree to. Just as the last one did. And just as the CFL's negotiations with the NFL Network, if they actually happen, will.
Year of the Rocket: John Candy, Wayne Gretzky, a Crooked Tycoon, and the Craziest Season in Football History (https://sutherlandhousebooks.com/pro...of-the-rocket/)
Bouncing Back: From National Joke to Grey Cup Champs (https://bit.ly/3fvip5x)
YOTR YouTube https://bit.ly/37jtG4f
BB YouTube https://bit.ly/2TSYPs7
I wouldn't. NFL Network is competing against ESPN for the rights. The audience for CFL games on ESPN was very promising this year, and they added extra games mid-season. June and July is a dead zone for US sports -- that's one-sixth the entire year -- and the networks are desperate for good content. There are so many football fans down there, it's not too far-fetched to imagine they could grow their viewership for CFL games over a few seasons, given the right presentation and good scheduling.
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