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joecrisp · 04-17-2004, 06:18 PM

It's not one particular cable company or another that would have NFL Sunday Ticket if they won the bid-- it would be all or nothing. In the bidding war for NFL Sunday Ticket, the cable companies are represented by the pay-per-view company "IN Demand"-- which is collectively owned by cable giants Comcast, AOL Time Warner, Advance/Newhouse Communications and Cox Communications. "IN Demand" is the same company that provides pay-per-view movie services on cable, as well as the full-season packages for NASCAR, NHL, NBA and MLB.

DirecTV had to pony up around $2 billion to win the bidding war against IN Demand for the rights to carry the NFL package. That deal makes them the exclusive satellite provider of the package through 2007, but the cable companies can re-enter the picture in 2005, when the exclusive multi-channel rights expire.

Not coincidentally, the NFL's current deals with FOX and CBS also expire in 2005. Those deals with FOX and CBS stated that the sale of NFL games to digital cable companies like IN Demand would require approval from both FOX and CBS.

So basically, the NFL is free to explore the possibility of selling games to digital cable again in 2005. Due to the rapidly escalating cost of purchasing the rights to NFL games, it's quite possible that the broadcast networks (FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC) would bail out of the bidding-- and that would pave the way for digital pay-per-view (in the form of IN Demand and the cable companies that own it) to make free broadcast NFL games a thing of the past.

04-17-2004, 06:18 PM	#25
joecrisp The Starter Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Charlottesville, VA Age: 50 Posts: 1,501	It's not one particular cable company or another that would have NFL Sunday Ticket if they won the bid-- it would be all or nothing. In the bidding war for NFL Sunday Ticket, the cable companies are represented by the pay-per-view company "IN Demand"-- which is collectively owned by cable giants Comcast, AOL Time Warner, Advance/Newhouse Communications and Cox Communications. "IN Demand" is the same company that provides pay-per-view movie services on cable, as well as the full-season packages for NASCAR, NHL, NBA and MLB. DirecTV had to pony up around $2 billion to win the bidding war against IN Demand for the rights to carry the NFL package. That deal makes them the exclusive satellite provider of the package through 2007, but the cable companies can re-enter the picture in 2005, when the exclusive multi-channel rights expire. Not coincidentally, the NFL's current deals with FOX and CBS also expire in 2005. Those deals with FOX and CBS stated that the sale of NFL games to digital cable companies like IN Demand would require approval from both FOX and CBS. So basically, the NFL is free to explore the possibility of selling games to digital cable again in 2005. Due to the rapidly escalating cost of purchasing the rights to NFL games, it's quite possible that the broadcast networks (FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC) would bail out of the bidding-- and that would pave the way for digital pay-per-view (in the form of IN Demand and the cable companies that own it) to make free broadcast NFL games a thing of the past.