(Speculation) NFL making the Super Bowl a PPV event?

[sb1]

LOL. Wouldn't put this past them at all.

 

[sb1]

 

[sb1]

Would the NFL ever make the Super Bowl to a PPV event? - ProFootballTalk

Twice in the past two years (August 2021 and this week), former ESPN president John Skipper suggested that the Super Bowl eventually will become a pay-per-view event. Twice in response, we pointed out on Twitter that this potential shift comes with one major risk.If/when the NFL ever removes the...

profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

 

[Ross12]

Seems like a really bad idea to me. UFC fights are a far smaller market than the Super Bowl.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

LOL. Wouldn't put this past them at all.

Worked very well for boxing…..

 

[sb1]

Seems like a really bad idea to me. UFC fights are a far smaller market than the Super Bowl.

And if we think the officiating is bad now I can't wait till a small market team is in a conference championship game vs a popular team that will pull more PPV dollars in.

 

[Rob0729]

I can see neutral site championship games coming. I do not see a PPV Super Bowl.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

At last, an issue on which both political extremes will agree!
The far Right will attack this as an attempt by larger, wealthier, more urban, Blue states to restrict access for smaller, poorer, rural Red states.
The far Left will attack it as an attempt by conservatives, wherever they reside, to diminish equity by restricting the access of impoverished, historically underserved communities, wherever they reside.

 

[Scotty]

I guess this will not be the first or last. There was a time in the UK certain sporting events were ring fenced so that everyone , rich or poor , could watch them on basic TV eg Wimbledon , Soccer Cup Finals , Olympics , Rugby 5 Nations etc etc......however certain sports events which were free to view are now pay channels....its only a matter of time and money

 

[Steve102]

I would be out on the NFL as a whole, including the Patriots.

 

[maust]

FAFO
To begin with Big Shield could say goodbye to their antitrust exemption

 

[luvbrain]

Moving to PPV or cables, will only reduce its popularity, which in turn, will drive ad, and network contract revenue lower in the long run. Just like how I feel MLB, and NBA of today; they are no longer as attractive, or popular as they used to back in the 80's, and 90's. To me, it coincided when I could no longer watch them on basic TV. Just my personal opinion though..

 

[Bill Lee]

I can see neutral site championship games coming. I do not see a PPV Super Bowl.

This is how NFL gets its way: presents a ****ty idea, then presents an even ****tier idea, making you think the first ****ty idea isn't as bad as the second even ****tier idea.

Or presents a very ****ty idea (18 game season), lets everyone lose their **** over that idea, waits for things to calm down, then presents a less ****ty idea (17 game season) which everyone accepts as inevitable.

 

[Bill Lee]

They can't help themselves. Keep watering down the product. 17 game season. 18 game season. Extra wild card game. Eventually you get the NHL with a meaningless regular season, marginal early rounds of playoffs, only worth watching when it's just the top four teams playing. Safety concerns mean less and less parents let their kids play the game. Sooner or later, it's totally marginalized and irrelevant. The pig gets slaughtered.

 

[mister clyde]

I can see neutral site championship games coming. I do not see a PPV Super Bowl.

I am uncertain about a neutral site conference championship. On the one hand, if you're the better team you should be able to win no matter where you play. On the other hand, home field is an advantage that you earn by having the better record in the regular season. Why cheapen the results of the regular season? If the #1 seed makes the championship why should they have an advantage they earned stripped away? Or #2 if they are playing #3 or lower, or whatever. Why give the lower seed a benefit?

 

[TheRainMaker]

This would be idiotic.

 

[Chevy]

with a meaningless regular season, marginal early rounds of playoffs, only worth watching when it's just the top four teams playing.

Folks that pay for streaming services to see the regular season will stop, offsetting any gains from a PPV SB (or playoffs in general).

If the NFL wants to make more - offer Red Zone to any cable subscriber as a single, very low cost add-on (I'm talking $5 per month for the season), and sell advertising on it (split screen or even full). A lot of folks would pay $5/month for six months of RZ access, even with commercials.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

$ from me only if Pats are playing.

 

[Pape]

oof... nearly 50 million households watched the super bowl this year... spitballin' here... if they nfl charged a modest $50 for it... that 2.5 billion dollars... lose half of that to taxes and fixed costs... so they net 1.25 billion... that's a lot of money... (i dont actually believe 50 million households will pay $50 for the game though)

but...

I think the TV stations that pay for the rights to broadcast the NFL might object to something like this... Right now its equitable, with the game rotating between the rights holders... They make huge money on ads... something like 6m or 7m for a 30 second spot... so hows that gonna go over with them? in total (pregame, game, post game) Fox made 636 million from super bowl ads... last year nbc made 578 million...

so does the nfl make their broadcast partners whole? If im paying ppv for the superbowl, i ain't watching ads... so 1.25 billion minus 650 million (a very conservative number) for fox/nbc/whoever... leaves $600,000,000 for the league... the players will get half... so $300,000,000 for the owners... $18,750,000 per team... thats a pretty penny... But is that pretty penny worth the severe negative backlash they will face over a move like this?

not in my book

the rights fees the broadcasters pay now already include the right to broadcast the super bowl... those rights become less valuable if thats not included... so how does that affect the most reliable income stream that the league has? Does going to the ppv model upset their limited anti-monopoly benefits? that could, theoretically at least, profoundly impact the league as a whole...

while i think the nfl could generate a lot of money going the ppv route, it would require a huge leap of faith that people would be willing to carry that additional cost...


If they do do this - i will be the first in line at Piracy-R-Us learning how to set up a mirror site to make bank off of them... those streams will make big bucks...

 

[Toofy]

The free access is what makes it super popular . The moment you make it PPV see how college football or other free streams will explode. Piracy will be off charts .

Besides it's a golden goose now. Unless advertising falls off a cliff no point in moving to PPV.