From 2014 to 2022,CBS,NBC, andFox, as well as cable television'sESPN, paid a combined total of US$20.4 billion[1] will pay $39.6 billion for exactly the same broadcast rights.[2] The NFL thus holds broadcast contracts with four companies (Paramount Global,Comcast,Fox Corporation andThe Walt Disney Company/Hearst Corporation, respectively) that control a combinedvast majority of the country's television product. League-ownedNFL Network, on cable television, also broadcasts a selected number of games nationally. In 2017, the NFL games attracted the top three rates for a 30-second advertisement: $699,602 forNBC Sunday Night Football, $550,709 forThursday Night Football (NBC), and $549,791 forThursday Night Football (CBS).[3]
Under the current contracts since 2023, regionally shown games on Sunday afternoons are televised on CBS and Fox, which primarily carry games ofAFC andNFC teams respectively (the conference of the away team generally determines the broadcaster of an inter-conference game). Nationally televised regular season games on Sunday and Monday nights currently airing on NBC and ESPN/ABC, respectively, while Amazon Prime Video Nationally televise Thursday night games during the regular season. In addition, a "flexible scheduling" policy allows the league to reschedule Sunday afternoon and night games to different time slots and/or reassign them to different networks regardless of conference (Monday and Thursday Night games are subject to this policy but must give 12 and 28 days notice respectively). During the postseason, ESPN airs two games, NBC airs two, while CBS and Fox air three games in their respective conference each year, all networks air one game in each of the first two rounds then the conference championship round is split between Fox and CBS respectively, an extra wild card game (of either conference) goes in rotation between CBS, Fox and NBC, with another wild card game going up for sale with Prime Video holding rights to this streaming exclusive for most years. TheSuper Bowl has rotated annually among CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN since the 2023 season.
On April 29, 2020, Amazon renewed its digital rights through the 2022 season, maintaining theTNF simulcasts and digital content, and also adding exclusive international rights to one late-season game per-season outside of the package (which will be produced by CBS).[4] For its simulcasts, Amazon replaced the British feed with a new "Scout's Feed" with extended analysis byBucky Brooks andDaniel Jeremiah (akin to theESPN "film room" broadcasts of college football games), and "NFL Next Live" on Twitch (with viewer interactivity).[5]
On March 13, 2021, the league announced a new agreement with ESPN/ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC that will run from 2023 to 2033, which increases those broadcaster's digital rights, expands "flexible scheduling", and adds ABC/ESPN to the Super Bowl rotation, among others.
DuringSuper Bowl LIV, Fox introduced a new on-air appearance specific to its football broadcasts, replacing the previous rectangular appearance with a slanted motif. The scoreboard was also changed to a box-like appearance in the bottom-center, showing only team logos, and with both teams positioned in opposing directions. Translucent strips are used to show quarterback statistics following each play. Selected players are depicted in graphics using stylized "cartoon" illustrations rather than traditional photos, and during the Super Bowl,lower thirds incorporated fonts based on the teams' respective wordmarks. These graphics took effect full-time for football telecasts on Fox after the Super Bowl, including theXFL, and the subsequent NFL and college football seasons.[6][7][8]
In the 2020 offseason, the NFL queried its teams on the possibility of expanding flexible scheduling toMonday Night Football. No consensus was achieved on whether or not such an expansion would be viable, as travel and lodging reservations are set in advance and would require visiting teams to book hotels for an extra day because of the uncertainty such a flex option would entail.[9] Flexible scheduling would not take effect untilMonday Night Football's next contract begins in 2023.
The 2020 schedule was released on May 7. The Kickoff game was on September 10, which featured theSuper Bowl LIV ChampionKansas City Chiefs hosting theHouston Texans. The Thanksgiving Night game was supposed to feature theBaltimore Ravens versus thePittsburgh Steelers; the ninth time that the Thanksgiving game would have been part of theSNF package shown on NBC. A COVID-19 outbreak on the Baltimore Ravens forced the postponement of the game to the following Sunday afternoon, which was then postponed to the following Tuesday night, and then finally to Wednesday afternoon.[10][11] It was shown on NBC as scheduled, butKWQC-TV - the NBC affiliate for theQuad Cities of Iowa and Illinois - opted not to show the game. Before this occasion, the last Wednesday night game played in the NFL was also a special edition of primetime on NBC - the 2012 Kickoff game between theDallas Cowboys andNew York Giants that was scheduled as such to avoid a conflict with Obama's renomination speech atthat year's Democratic National Convention.
The2020 season saw another major revamp to ESPN's booth, withSteve Levy,Brian Griese, andLouis Riddick, joining holdoversLisa Salters andJohn Parry.[12] ESPN's lead college football commentary team ofChris Fowler,Kirk Herbstreit, andMaria Taylor called the first game of the Week 1 doubleheader (as Fowler and Taylor were already in the New York area handling theUS Open andNBA Finals respectively).[13] To formally celebrate the 50th anniversary ofMonday Night Football, the Las Vegas Raiders' Week 2 home opener (their first after relocating from Oakland) was simulcast by ABC.[14] A special “Monday NightMegacast” was also produced and aired onESPN2, withRece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit providing commentary and interviews with multiple guests throughout the game. The Hank Williams Jr.MNF theme was once again dropped, being replaced by a cover ofLittle Richard's "Rip It Up" by Virginia-based band Butcher Brown.[15]
Weeks before the 2020 season, Fox droppedThom Brennaman following the controversy surrounding his use of ahomophobic slur while working as the television voice of theCincinnati Reds.Kevin Kugler took over Brennaman's slot on the #5 team with Chris Spielman. With Charles Davis departing for CBS, his position at the #2 team with Kevin Burkhardt was filled by Daryl Johnston, who in turn was replaced byBrock Huard and Greg Jennings on the #6 team with Chris Myers.Adam Amin replaced Dick Stockton on the now-promoted #3 pairing with Mark Schlereth, though Stockton would continue to call select games when necessary.Jonathan Vilma replaced Ronde Barber on the #4 team with Kenny Albert. Spielman left Fox after Week 14 to join theDetroit Lions front office. Huard took over Spielman's place with Kugler.
In 2020, because of numerous pandemic-related issues that led to CBS losing a 1 PM (Pittsburgh vs Tennessee) and a 4:25 PM (New England at Kansas City) game during Week 4, the NFL used the flexible schedule rule to move Indianapolis at Chicago from 1 PM to 4:25 PM.
Initially, ESPN had an opportunity to air a secondMNF doubleheader when theBroncos–Patriots game, originally scheduled on October 4, was postponed to October 12 due to a player testing positive forCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), The game would have been scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. ET kickoff with Fowler and Herbstreit working the game.[16][17] However, additional positive tests from New England forced the NFL to reschedule the game to October 18, along with a slew of other rescheduled games involving the Dolphins, Jets, Chargers and Jaguars.
FollowingCam Newton's positiveCOVID-19 test, theNew England Patriots-Kansas City Chiefs game, originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon, was postponed to Monday, October 5 at 7:05 p.m. ET to be broadcast nationally.[18] This will be CBS's first Monday night telecast since November 24, 2014. TheKansas City Chiefs won 26–10.
On October 13, due to multiple positive COVID-19 in theTennessee Titans organization, theTitans-Buffalo Bills game was moved to Tuesday, which was the seventh Tuesday NFL game in history. The Titans ultimately won the game 42–16.
On October 19, because of a COVID-19 outbreak involving theTennessee Titans, the originally scheduled Thursday night game between theChiefs andBills, was moved to the following Monday due to Tennessee playing Buffalo the previous Tuesday. The Chiefs won 26–17. In a similar move, theRavens had their scheduled Week 13TNF game against theCowboys postponed to the following Tuesday. The Ravens had dealt with their own outbreak, which included positive tests from players including reigning MVPLamar Jackson. For that reason, the Ravens had to postpone their Thanksgiving game against theSteelers three times, the first time was originally postponed to the Sunday after Thanksgiving in the afternoon, then postponed a second time to the following Tuesday night, then postponed again to the following Wednesday in the afternoon. The postponements forced the Steelers’ Week 13 game against theWashington Football Team to be moved from Sunday, December 6, to Monday, December 7, and as mentioned, the Cowboys-Ravens game a day later, with both games remaining on Fox.
Mike Tirico substituted for Al Michaels on a select number of games on NBC this season, that started with the September 27 game between theGreen Bay Packers and theNew Orleans Saints. Tirico was initially slated to call the Thanksgiving game this season, but was assigned instead to call the Week 12SNF game between the Packers and theChicago Bears withTony Dungy andKathryn Tappen. Tirico was eventually given the assignment to call the rescheduled Ravens–Steelers game with Collinsworth after it was postponed from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday night. Tirico also called one of NBC's two wild card playoff games in January.
The aforementioned Packers–Saints game took place while the2020 Stanley Cup Finals (rescheduled from its normal late May–early June schedule) were ongoing; Dallas (Stars) and Tampa Bay (Lightning) also have NFL teams in the Cowboys and Buccaneers. As NBC was also the rightsholder toNational Hockey League games in the U.S., the league was compelled to play Games 4 and 5 (September 25–26) of the finals on consecutive nights to avoid conflict withSNF.
For the first time in the history ofSNF, NBC aired games against anNBA Finals game in back-to-back weeks; this is usually a non-issue as the NBA Finals traditionally take place in June but was moved to the fall due to theNBA suspending their season. This occurred on October 4 with the Eagles playing the 49ers on the same day as Game 3, and on October 11, with the Vikings playing the Seahawks on the same day as Game 6 (the eventual last game of the series). Although Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Minnesota all have NBA teams, only the76ers qualified for the playoffs, although they were eliminated in the first round. TheLos Angeles Lakers defeated theMiami Heat in six games.
Flexible scheduling rules went into effect in Week 5; the scheduled game reverted to the afternoon if a more compelling game arose. The scheduledSNF game could be swapped with the more competitive game's time slot. The final game of the season, on Sunday, January 3, 2021, likewise was a flex game. The slot, left purposefully blank when the schedule came out, it was filled by the game between Washington and the home team Philadelphia Eagles. A Washington win gave them the NFC East Division title.
Super Bowl LV was televised by CBS. AlthoughNBC was to air this game under the current rotation, they traded with CBS forSuper Bowl LVI, which falls during the2022 Winter Olympics and is the first to be scheduled during an ongoing Olympic Games (this also upholds the untoldgentleman's agreement between the NFL's broadcasters to notcounterprogram the Super Bowl, as NBC also holds the U.S. broadcast rights to the Olympics).
CBS also gained rights to air a second Wild Card game, as the NFL expanded its postseason from 12 to 14 teams (7 in each conference). As part of gaining the rights to air the second game, which was played on January 10 at 4:40 ET, CBS's sister networkNickelodeon also aired aself-produced broadcast of the game, in an effort to promote a younger audience.
CBS will air two Wild Card games and one AFC Divisional game in odd-numbered years, two Wild Card games and both AFC Divisional games in even-numbered years, theAFC Championship Game (in the afternoon in even-numbered years, primetime in odd-numbered years), and theSuper Bowl every three years.
In October 2020,Amazon acquired rights to simulcast one of CBS's NFC Wild Card games onAmazon Prime Video, as part of its digital rights to the league (expanding upon its involvement withThursday Night Football).[19]
ABC,ESPN, andDisney XD aired a television special in place of the2021 Pro Bowl—thePro Bowl Celebration[20]—which would feature segments and interviews honoring the Pro Bowl roster, and highlights of the2020 season, and promoting the digital Pro Bowl event.[21][22]
ESPN's rights toMonday Night Football were modified in 2021, allowingABC to simulcast select games (Weeks 1, 14, and 15), as well as a new Saturday doubleheader in Week 18.[23][24]
On March 18, the NFL announced its future television deals for 2023–2033 (see below).
ESPN announced an agreement with Omaha Productions, the production company ofPeyton Manning, to produceMonday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, asupplemental telecast ofMonday Night Football with Manning, his brotherEli, and guest celebrities for ten games each season onESPN2 andESPN+, from 2021 to 2023.[25]
The wild card playoff game aired by ESPN and ABC was moved from Saturday to Monday night, with aPeyton and Eli broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN+ providing the “Peyton and Eli” broadcast.[26]
For the second consecutive season,Nickelodeon simulcast a wild-card playoff game with CBS, using the same youth-friendly broadcast modifications that were in place the previous season.[27] Nickelodeon will also air a weekly NFL magazine program,NFL Slimetime, throughout the season.[28]
NBC televisedSuper Bowl LVI along withTelemundo Deportes which aired its first Super Bowl in Spanish on broadcast television. Due to NBC's coverage of the2020 Summer Olympics (held 2021), the network sold its broadcast rights to thePro Football Hall of Fame Game to Fox.[29]
Following the expiration of their eight year contract, ESPN and ABC agreed to a one year bridge contract. As with the previous season, ESPN will hold rights to a Saturday doubleheader during the final week of the season, simulcast with ABC. Beginning this season, ESPN+ will exclusively carry one International Series game per season. ABC will also air its first exclusive game since2005 on September 19, as part of a doubleheader with ESPN.[30]
This will be the first year in whichThursday Night Football will exclusively stream onAmazon Prime Video andTwitch.[31] Fox andNFL Network opted out of their final season of the 2018–2022TNF deal, allowing Amazon to take over one season before its 2023–2033TNF agreement was to go into effect. The start time for Thursday Night games was moved from 8:20 pm ET to 8:15 pm ET to allow Prime Video to conclude its coverage earlier.[32][33]
This will be the final season underDirecTV's deal for exclusive rights to theNFL Sunday Ticket out-of-market sports package. DirecTV has held exclusive rights since the package's launch in 1994. DirecTV executives have questioned the current value of NFL Sunday Ticket after losing money over the past few years. In September 2021, NFL CommissionerRoger Goodell suggested that NFL Sunday Ticket could be more attractive on a digital platform.[34] In June, it was reported that Disney, Apple, and Amazon submitted bids. In July, Google submitted a bid.[35][36]
The NFL's mobile streaming contract withVerizon expired following the 2021 season (which included mobile streaming of live local and nationally televised games along with cellular streaming of NFL Network); it was reported that the league was preparing to move these rights behind apaywall of an in-house subscription service.[37][38] In July, the NFL announced thatNFL Game Pass would be replaced in the United States by NFL+, which will stream in-market games on mobile devices only, radio broadcasts for all games, most out-of-market preseason games, as well as on-demand programming from NFL Network and NFL Films. A premium tier of the service adds on-demand game replays and other viewing options while the cellular streaming of NFL Network was paywalled behind a pay TV provider.[39][40][41]
On March 16, ESPN signedJoe Buck andTroy Aikman — who were Fox's lead commentary team for 20 seasons — to a multi-year deal to become the new lead commentators ofMonday Night Football.[42][43] ESPN's previousMNF broadcastersSteve Levy andLouis Riddick continued as ESPN's secondary NFL broadcast team, withDan Orlovsky replacingBrian Griese who left ESPN for a coaching job with San Francisco.[44][45][46]
On March 23, Amazon announced that longtime NBC play-by-play announcerAl Michaels and ESPN college football analystKirk Herbstreit would serve as its lead broadcast team forThursday Night Football.[47][48] Amazon later addedABC News reporterKaylee Hartung as its sideline reporter.Mike Tirico—who had been NBC's secondary play-by-play announcer and Michaels' designated fill-in since joining NBC in 2016[49][50]—succeeded Michaels as the lead commentator forSunday Night Football, withMaria Taylor succeeding him as lead studio host[51] andJason Garrett replacingDrew Brees on theFootball Night in America panel.[52]Melissa Stark replacedMichele Tafoya as sideline reporter.[53] Amazon's studio panel will be led by Fox'sCharissa Thompson, with analystsTony Gonzalez,Ryan Fitzpatrick,Richard Sherman, andAndrew Whitworth.Bleacher Report andTurner Sports'Taylor Rooks and NBC'sMichael Smith also made contributions.[54]
With Buck and Aikman's departure, Fox's number-2 commentary team ofKevin Burkhardt andGreg Olsen were promoted to Fox's top pairing.[55] Replacing Burkhardt and Olsen wereJoe Davis andDaryl Johnston, starting his third stint as Fox's number 2 analyst. Kristina Pink, who was one of Fox's two TNF reporters from 2018 to 2021, returned to Sunday reporting duties to join the team ofAdam Amin andMark Schlereth.Robert Smith also moved from Fox'scollege football coverage to joinChris Myers.On March 13, 2021, the league announced a new agreement with ESPN/ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC that will run from 2023 to 2033, worth over $110B ($10B/year). Among the new changes:[56][57]