The NFL made the shocking announcement this week that there will be a double header on Christmas Day this year of NFL games. Christmas fall out on a Wednesday, so it will be the first time to watch football on that day. Now the league is selling the broadcast rights for the games to the highest bidder.
Per Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, the league will be auctioning off the rights to the games and the bidding is expected to start at a whopping $50 million for each of the two games, and that is just where the bidding starts. There is now a bidding war over the special Christmas Day games.
NFL Bidding War Ensues
All of the usual suspects are at play to make a move for the broadcasting rights for these games. Each of; FOX, Amazon Prime, ESPN, NBA, and CBS are have the opportunity to bid for each of these games, although they are more likely to land with a network than a streaming service.
Josh Kosner, a former ESPN executive thinks that the number will end up being much higher than the starting bid. He thinks it could even get up to $100 million but would be unlikely to reach $110 million. That was the number that the NFL received for their playoff Peacock matchup.
Prime Video has been reported to be paying $120 million for the exclusive streaming rights of a playoff game for next season.
“The premium prices have come for exclusive streaming rights to NFL playoff games,” Kosner said. “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.”
Christmas Day Games On Wednesday
While the NFL has played on Christmas Day in each of the last four seasons, but league officials claimed that they would not be doing that if the day fell on a Tuesday or Wednesday. The league has seen unprecedented growth which is the reason they want to dip their toes into a double header on a Wednesday.
“From what we’ve seen the last couple years is really some unprecedent growth, and not just on Christmas, on Thanksgiving, too,” Schroeder said Tuesday. “The last couple of years have had the highest-regular season game ever viewed in the regular season. That mindset, that opportunity, that belief we have that football brings people together — that’s even truer on these big holidays that happen throughout the year.”
We will see how much these games go for, and it will not be surprising if it ends up being around $100 million for each game.
Related: NFL Fans All Have The Same Reaction To 2024 Christmas Day Decision
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