• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

An $111 billion programming media deal over an eleven-year period is not enough -- especially in the still-transitioning linear TV- to-streaming media world.

Not for the NFL, anyway -- the largest TV programmer in terms of average TV program viewership.

The NFL is considering the use of an option in the original contract to renegotiate those monster billion-dollar deals, confirms a report from CNBC that includes a conversation with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

For some time now, analysts have been mulling over this possibility.

The option to reconfigure those agreements could be triggered as early as next year -- 2026. The NFL would then need to get agreements with its current media partners -- Walt Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount Skydance, Amazon, and Fox Corp -- before the end of the 2029-30 season.

The business logic is that increasingly, new streaming services -- especially those from legacy TV-network based companies -- realize that sports and the NFL in particular carry a lot of weight when it comes to getting and maintaining connected TV (CTV) monthly subscriptions. This is a major lynchpin for consumer CTV decisions.

In turn, how would TV networks and streamers justify a potential right fee hike -- especially with still young and very modest profitable streaming services? One possible small lure: The NFL has been considering expanding its regular season of games -- going to 18 weeks from 17 weeks.

Goodell is also looking at other major U.S. sports leagues in the rear-view mirror - the NBA and the NFL -- which have secured strike rights-fee hikes themselves as well as long-term deals.

Recently, the NBA struck a $76 billion deal over a period of 11 years with Disney (ABC/ESPN), NBCUniversal (NBC/Peacock), and Amazon (Prime Video).
The NHL inked $4.5 billion in deals over seven years on ESPN/ABC, and TNT Sports.

But let's dig into this a bit. What would it mean for Paramount Skydance to succeed in buying Warner Bros. Discovery? Would that help say HBO Max, TNT? In turn, does this give Paramount a bit more leverage with the NFL in terms of keeping price hikes at a modest level?

And you might be wondering about the big elephant in the room -- streaming-wise: Netflix.

What would happen if the dominant premium streaming service could leverage itself with those ‘option’ discussions-- perhaps looking to expand well beyond its current exclusive Christmas Day NFL games? And what about YouTube TV?

Start the NFL clock now. And by the way, there are no time outs in this game. Everyone wants to score many more media touchdowns.