FOX Sports and CBS will pay the NFL a combined $8 billion for broadcasting rights to Sunday afternoon games through the 2011 season. (Photo courtesy of FOX Sports.)
The National Football League this week extended its existing broadcast rights agreements with FOX Sports and CBS to each televise a Sunday afternoon doubleheader through 2011 for a reported $8 billion.
The six-year agreement with FOX Sports grants the network exclusive rights to broadcast various Sunday afternoon National Football Conference doubleheaders. The league reached a similar agreement with CBS for American Football Conference games.
Other highlights of the agreement with FOX Sports include broadcast rights to:
- Three pre-season games
- Two divisional playoff games
- NFC Championship Games
- Two Super Bowls: Super Bowl XLII, Feb. 3, 2008 from Cardinals Stadium, Glendale, AZ, and Super Bowl XLV, at the end of the 2011 season.
The contract with CBS also includes broadcast rights to:
- Super Bowl XLI (2007) and Super Bowl XLIV (2010)
- The new deal with CBS grants the network broadcast rights for AFC playoff and divisional championship games as well as Super Bowl XLI (2007) and Super Bowl XLIV (2010).
Under the agreements, high-definition production and distribution of games will continue. Twelve FOX O&Os are located in markets with NFL Franchises, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Tampa, FL, Minneapolis, Phoenix, St. Louis and Milwaukee.
Thirteen of CBS’s 16 O&Os are in NFL markets, including New York, San Francisco, Boston, Miami, Denver, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
In a separate move, the league expanded its deal with direct satellite provider DIRECTV. (See related story in this edition.)
For more information, visit www.sportsline.com and http://msn.foxsports.com.
