“How much more profit do [NFL commissioner Roger] Goodell and NBC need to make at the expense of hard working Americans?” the New York Democrat’s letter went on to ask.
He wrote: “Congress granted the NFL an antitrust exemption in its broadcast deals with the expectation that you wouldn’t use it to screw over fans. That was clearly a mistake.”
Peacock, a streaming service operated by Comcast’s
CMCSA,
-0.65%
NBCUniversal, is one of several streaming platforms that now broadcast NFL games. Some of those services, like Amazon’s
AMZN,
-0.36%
Prime Video, have exclusive rights to certain games, meaning there is no other option to watch on network or cable television, or through a cord-cutting live TV subscription. But while there have been NFL games available only on a streaming platform before, never before has it been a playoff game.
Part of the reason that Ryan, along with many NFL fans, are upset that the Chiefs-Dolphins game is available exclusively on Peacock is that it’s been getting more expensive to watch the NFL in recent years — because, increasingly, games are not broadcast on network TV. In fact, the price to watch every NFL game this season for cord cutters was $1,603, not including the cost of internet service.
That commitment includes the cost of six streaming services and five username and password combinations. Those digital streaming services include Google’s
GOOG,
+0.40%
GOOGL,
+0.40%
YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, NFL+ and ESPN+
DIS,
+1.01%.
And the NFL is reaping the rewards. A decade ago, the league made about $3 billion from its TV deals. But, through all of its broadcast deals today with both networks and streaming companies, it makes roughly $10 billion a year.
Peacock has two plans: a $5.99-per-month subscription with ads, and another option for $11.99 a month that’s ad-free. While fans who live in the local broadcast areas of where the teams play (the media markets around Kansas City and Miami, in this case) will have the ability to watch the game on local TV, the rest of the country will have to pay for Peacock.
According to the Wall Street Journal, NBC paid $110 million for Peacock’s exclusive NFL broadcast rights.
Many fans took to social media to vent their frustrations about having to buy another streaming service to watch an NFL game this weekend.
Responding to the backlash, an NFL spokesperson said in a statement: “The NFL’s media strategy has been to make our games available in as many ways as possible to meet our fans where they spend their time. As streaming video becomes commonplace, we are increasingly expanding the digital distribution of NFL content while continuing a longstanding policy that all NFL games be shown on free, over-the-air television in the markets of the participating teams.”
NBCUniversal did not respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment.
Clermont, Fla., resident Calicia Landry, 53, has been a Dolphins fan for decades. Her family had season tickets during the historic 1972 season when the Dolphins went undefeated — the first and only time that has happened in NFL history.
When asked if she will pay for Peacock to watch the game, Landry, whose town is in the Orlando, Fla., market, told MarketWatch that, despite Peacock’s cost of just $5, “it’s the principle now.”
“I bought NFL Sunday Ticket already. I already pay for television service with DirecTV
T,
+1.54%.
I had to have Prime to watch the Black Friday game,” she said. “It’s too much.”
Read on: Here’s how much the major streaming services are set to cost are all the price increases
