Many people will be opening presents on Christmas Day this year, including the NFL. And there’s an excellent chance they’ll be opening the most expensive present of all.
According to a report by Front Office Sports (FOS), the NFL will auction the media rights to two of its Christmas Day games. Bidding will begin at $50 million.
“The league plans to open the bidding to all of its media partners, say sources, including CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN-ABC, and Amazon Prime Video,” FOS reports. “Collectively, these media giants will pay the NFL $110 billion through 2033.
“The games are more likely to appear on linear TV networks than streaming platforms, the sources say.”
The NFL did very nicely last year when it came to streaming fees. Peacock paid $110 million to stream the frigid playoff matchup between the Chiefs and the Dolphins. Prime spent $100 million to feature the league’s first Black Friday game between the Jets and the Dolphins.
Patrick Mahomes, #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs, runs with the ball during the first half against the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 13, 2024, Kansas City, Missouri. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)
Costs to broadcast the Christmas Day games are expected to be significantly higher than the Black Friday game.
“The premium prices have come for exclusive streaming rights to NFL playoff games,” said former ESPN executive John Kosner. “NFL Christmas Day/night games have huge and growing audiences—but they are regular-season games scheduled seven months in advance. And traditionally, the ad market for Christmas Day is not as robust.”
Kosner projects that each Christmas Day game will sell for $75 to $100 million each.
The NFL served up three games to its football-hungry audience last Christmas. All three games did tremendously well, with the Chiefs-Raiders and Giants-Eagles each averaging over 29 million viewers. The Ravens and 49ers scored well in the late game with over 27 million.
Jevon Holland #8 of the Miami Dolphins scores a 99-yard touchdown off of an interception thrown by Tim Boyle #7 of the New York Jets during the second quarter in the game at MetLife Stadium on November 24, 2023, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
The fact that Christmas falls on a Wednesday this year initially gave NFL executives some trepidation about offering a Christmas Day slate of games. But the exorbitant media rights fees they’ll be able to charge apparently talked them into it.
Traditionally, the NBA has owned Christmas Day. However, compared to the nearly 30 million average viewers the NFL generated last Christmas, the NBA only managed 2.86 million viewers for its five games.
In other words, the NBA no longer owns Christmas Day and is not even really invited to It.
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