Following up on the news we reported yesterday that ESPN bid on the U.S. rights to the Premier League, the bidding war is heating up. Today, we can confirm another entry. NBC bids to renew Premier League rights, too.
However, NBC Sports is taking nothing for granted, its chairman revealed.
Speaking to sports media executives in New York City, NBC Sports Group Chairman Pete Bevacqua said:
“Fingers crossed. We know it’s going to be incredibly competitive. It always is when you’re dealing with a great property. So, we’re taking absolutely nothing for granted. We’ll see where it ends up.
“When you do go through this [bidding] process, you do feel a little helpless. It’s kind of like Tom Petty and ‘Waiting is the hardest part.’ And that’s kinda how you feel right now. You don’t know where it’s going to go – you try to do everything right, and you hope your performance over the course of nine years certainly speaks for itself and helps. But now you just have to wait. You know [the Premier League] have to go through a process.
“I think this [process] will move quickly. Bids were due on Monday. I think this is something that will probably take one to two weeks, maybe a little bit more.”
Premier League rights: Competition
It is understood that CBS Sports and FOX Sports have also placed bids for the rights, in addition to ESPN. CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus sidestepped the question when asked about it on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to address the EPL negotiations,” McManus said. “EPL is a great product. But I’m not going to get into any current negotiations.”
Meanwhile, FOX Sports have been extremely quiet regarding the matter.
Reflecting on what NBC Sports have accomplished with the Premier League, Bevacqua had a lot to say.
“We put our best foot forward. It’s no secret that we would love to stay partners [with the Premier League]. It is one of our key properties when you think about the DNA of our sports business. It’s worked for us on NBC. It’s worked for us on NBCSN. And now USA. It’s been a great success for us on Peacock.
“The Premier League has been just an incredible partner of ours — an almost decade-long relationship we’ve had. I think we’ve done a good job for them, helping to build their brand and presence in the U.S. What we’ve done on weekends mornings and what we’ve done with the fan fests.
“We love the property and we love the people. I think the sport and the Premier League is going to continue to grow in the U.S. Hopefully we will be a part of that.”
EPL rights: Background
Given today’s news that NBC bids to renew Premier League rights, its current deal ends in May 2022. NBC Sports have held the rights to the league since 2013. Many soccer fans will be hoping they can extend that until 2028 if NBC can win the bid.
The auction for the bids has now entered a second round of bidding. An announcement is expected next week.
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Mccort912
November 18, 2021 at 5:49 pm
RA how does someone overpay for something if you aren’t even the highest bidder? If you want to make some philisophical argument that all sports are over priced and a bubble then yeah whatever……….but that’s how it works, don’t watch or pay for any TV/Streaming I guess?
greg
November 18, 2021 at 5:37 pm
@Ra – you can post the same comment about donations to EPL, Glazer, etc. to as many threads as you want but it’s nonsense regardless. Nobody is saying the finances of oligarchs & billionaires is of concern…they’d be getting their money no matter who got the rights. By your logic you can say the same of people who like Paramount+ for the UCL coverage or ESPN for La Liga & Bundesliga. Or car owners who buy gas. It’s a ridiculous straw-man argument.
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People aren’t saying they’re happy NBC overpaid. It’s becoming clear from reporting that the price would be in this neighborhood regardless who won. People who are happy about NBC getting it (me, for instance) seem to be happy that the league will get priority treatment form an outlet that isn’t already laden with college sports or NFL or other Euro soccer. They probably have cable or fubo/sling. etc for reasons beyond soccer. So this keep status quo for now.
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Cable and streaming prices will continue to rise. Right deals cost money, infrastructure costs money, shareholders need their butts kissed with dividends. C-Suite execs needs their payouts.
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Anyway, the comment is nonsense & straw-man.
Ra
November 18, 2021 at 5:22 pm
@Eddy Completely agree. Having a laugh here seeing so many fans happy that NBC overpaid. If I watched the EPL, I would be very upset with the outcome – ultimately the fans always end up paying.
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One could probably make a donation to the EPL, glazer family, Abramovich, or Saudi Arabia if they are so inclined and the owners’ finances are a matter of great concern to them.
Eddy
November 18, 2021 at 5:17 pm
@JP yup seeing alot of EPL fans on Twitter gloating and exicted about the money the EPL got but they don’t realize what it means for them. As they say it rolls down hill and that price hike will be passed onto those same EPL fans as more games get shunted to Peacock along with the price hike to Peacock.
It would have sucked for non EPL Euro soccer fans but it would have been better for EPL fans if EPL had split the right so no one network was overburdened financially(seeing just circumstantial evidence) that ESPN/CBS and FOX purposefully drove the price up and are laughing at NBC now. NBC essentially did the same with NHL staying in the bidding process but that was said to be solely help out a long time partner in the NHL as they genuinely loved NHL hockey but no longer could afford to pay both NHL and EPL the fees those leagues wanted at NBC. I
I just seeing more bitching from EPL fans after this day of high fiving that the richest soccer league in the world got a little richer that will soon be replaced with sticker shock.
JP
November 18, 2021 at 3:27 pm
@greg, 2.6 billion? Over 430 million a year? If they were having trouble breaking even on EPL at over 100 million a year how do they justify almost tripling the price 6 years later?
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Yikes, think that means you can expect it to be primarily Peacock and that subscription cost goes up up up.
Nosferatu
November 18, 2021 at 3:25 pm
Up the Peacock!
SC
November 18, 2021 at 3:20 pm
@greg That’s an eyewatering number. I think we can put aside the notion that NBCU isn’t committed to Peacock. You just don’t spend that amount of money on PL rights for NBC and USA. Soccer rights seem to jump around a lot in this country but a soccer league has never been so vital to a specific networks business before. NBC needs the PL and they paid like they needed the PL.
greg
November 18, 2021 at 3:16 pm
Jeebus, $2.6 (give or take) billion over 6 years. Anyway, hooray. What do we talk about now?
JP
November 18, 2021 at 3:02 pm
@SC, good that’s a win for all non EPL fans who didn’t need it taking space on ESPN+ or Paramount+, with the price hike to come after.
SC
November 18, 2021 at 2:57 pm
NBC always made the most sense to me. ESPN has so many fall conflicts on their linear networks with College Football, College Gameday, and NFL Countdown, while CBS doesn’t have a cable network showing sports with anywhere near the reach of USA. NBC was the only one that could tie the knot of broadcast, cable, and streaming. It would be nice to see NBC now work to fill Peacock out with FA Cup and EFL rights to truly own English football and make Peacock a no doubt value for fans.
SC
November 18, 2021 at 2:53 pm
Ourand just tweeted that “word is that NBC is the winner”
Michael F
November 18, 2021 at 12:22 pm
@SteveK. Good feedback. Yes, that has mentioned numerous times here about NBCSN shutdown and the strategy going forward.
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UnitedFan 3478 is simply not paying any attention to anything and/or is very selective in his reading and quite subjective. After all, he claims on this post yesterday that ESPN will win easily, then on another post today – is asking when EPL rights will be announced like he is sweating it out and not as convinced and confident his wish will happen. Lol
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I will be more surprised if ESPN takes the EPL over NBC after watching this play out to date, but I stranger things have happened and anything is possible. We just have to wait for that announcement to know for sure.
SteveK
November 18, 2021 at 10:55 am
With respect to NBCSN shutting down and Comcast “losing” the NHL, it’s been said many times here that the 20 PL owners don’t care at all about that, they want a final fat rights fee check from the American market. It’s also important to remember that Comcast let the NHL go to ESPN for 400 million per year. Comcast only put in a perfunctory 100 million bid according to John Ourand who is very reliable so Comcast had decided to get out of the NHL business and perhaps even helped drive up the price that ESPN would pay for it by merely participating in the bidding.
I’ve said for months that when Comcast rolled over the Sky UK TV rights at the same rate without asking for bidding to be reopened the PL also agreed to give the US rights to Comcast at a fair price. Bids for the different packages had to be requested in order to establish that fair price and after two rounds of reading the tea leaves I’ve seen nothing that makes me want to change my mind, it’s been an extended exercise to establish that fair price for Comcast which will also allow the PL to trumpet obtaining a record rights increase. ESPN with CBS after the first round did seem a viable threat, but after word got leaked that ESPN would try for all 380 games in round 2 I’m less worried since we know they are saddled with that long term La Liga deal.
It will be interesting to see if ESPN losing the Euros to FOX had an impact on this PL rights auction.
locofooty
November 18, 2021 at 9:22 am
ESPN not renewing UEFA is very interesting in this whole context.
Nosferatu
November 17, 2021 at 10:23 pm
What’s the big deal about Comcast shutting down NBCSN? They lost their NHL rights, so what would really even fill all the hours, particularly primetime hours, instead?
The fact is that any of these networks could win. It’s all up to how much of a financial commitment the bigwigs up top are willing to authorize. Losing European international rights could open up room for ESPN, but they also might be smarting in year one of their La Liga deal, so it could make it a bit harder to go crawling to daddy moneybags (aka Disney) and make a convincing argument for $2 billion for another league.
UnitedFan 3478
November 17, 2021 at 9:40 pm
@SC I bet ESPN will easily win. Considering that NBC is trash and shut down NBCSN. They even gave up UEFA so that they could get the EPL.
SC
November 17, 2021 at 9:11 pm
Anyone have final predictions? I think NBC holds on because ultimately they need the rights more than ESPN and CBS.
MIB Fan
November 17, 2021 at 8:51 pm
Sorry, took a sad nap since it took a while for Hans and Mercator to migrate to this thread to rip NBC.
Michael F
November 17, 2021 at 12:49 pm
@greg. That makes sense. Forgot about Men in Blazers. I guess only ‘MIB Fan’ can confirm for us.
Ra
November 17, 2021 at 12:08 pm
@greg @Michael F. Pick your version (https //acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/MIB). I am going with ‘Missing in Bed’ or ‘Mishap Information Board’ 🙂
greg
November 17, 2021 at 11:24 am
@Michael F Either I’d guess Men in Black or since this is a football site, Men in Blazers. Maybe it’s a Dave or Rog sock-puppet account. 🙂
Michael F
November 17, 2021 at 11:12 am
Now I really do wonder what MIB really does stand for. In this context of being a fan, I know what MLB stands for… but not familiar with MIB.
Hans
November 17, 2021 at 10:52 am
Thank you for your complement, Most Incredibly Boring (MIB) Fan.
MIB Fan
November 17, 2021 at 12:20 am
ah, the Hans & Mercator Show is back
Michael F
November 16, 2021 at 12:22 pm
@Hans I can appreciate those principles you stated. It all comes down to what is important to the individual and what or why they are willing to pay for something.
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I’ve always had the mindset that I will pay for things that I use or consume regularly. I happen to love following the EPL and so I am subscribed to YouTube TV – but for a number of other reasons, not just the Premier League. I am a huge sports fan and also an avid classic movie viewer (and TCM’s library is vast – thousands of films… HBO/MAX’s TCM curator movie list only scratches the surface), and I am also subscribed to the Criterion Channel stream service. If it was only the EPL I watched, I would probably consider canceling YouTube TV and seriously wait to watch any matches on 24 hour delay via Peacock. I am a busy person and don’t consume most of the weekend matches when they air live anyway, but usually within the same day I catch what I need.
Ra
November 16, 2021 at 12:10 pm
@Michael F. Yes, there is also a concern that ESPN will give less attention to their current properties, esp. if they get the EPL. They seem to play favorites and heavily promote their favorites.
Regarding the lack of Bundesliga games, they always broadcasted every 1st division game. My complaint is that there are some amazing 2nd division games, to which they also hold the rights. They have hardly aired any of them. Their issue is that the world feed for these games doesn’t have commentaries and they are not willing to broadcast them with natural sound or invest in providing commentary.
Being true to my philosophy, Bundesliga’s own world feed is great (Derek Rae, Dan O’Hagan, etc). For 2. Bundesliga, give me without commentary. I will be happy enough. My grudge is that Bundesliga production has some amazing features that ESPN does not carry. Basically, they bring only 2 things to the table – 1080p feed and multicast ability as part of their app.
Hans
November 16, 2021 at 11:41 am
This whole subscribe to Peacock or/and Cable is a generational and personal choice thingy. For many they just pay up because being older they may estimate that they can’t spent their savings before they die, so they spend it on the best person they can think of, themselves and money doesn’t matter to them.
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For me money for streaming services doesn’t matter either, but there comes the point when I feel that they are taking me for a chump, it then enters the realm of being a principle and I will then choose an alternative source. The subscription to a cable package is non negotiable, it will NEVER happen for me and when I perceive that Comcast is trying to leverage their rights to make me subscribe to cable, I get pissed off, will be vocal on blogs or boards and tell them to stick the subscription where the sun don’t shine.
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It is clearly evident which way I will go in the future and the only reason why I subscribe to Peacock is because ALL the Rugby matches are on Peacock the way I wish the EPL would be. In addition it is made much easier by the plethora of Soccer matches that are being broadcast. UCL, UEL and Serie A on Paramount+ and Serie A shapes up to have a decent race for the Scudetto. Forza NAPOLI.
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Arsenal is also a team I follow and have all sources for the live matches set. MOTD in my opinion best post match analysis set and available on Reddit. Since I am at least 5 hours behind the Time Zone of the live matches, downloads available within an hour also available on Reddit and rojadirecta. No DVR needed.
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@Mercator
Agree with the increased interest in matches because of pirated quality streams, sort of on the same level as the increase of optical media sales because of pirated movies or TV shows. In addition I also agree that Comcast will have to abandon the free offering of their streaming service to those having Comcast as their ISP or have other services they provide. In the UK and Ireland Peacock is offered free to certain Sky customers. Another revenue stream cut off. Just can’t shake the feeling that Comcast and a profitable streaming service is an oxymoron.
Michael F
November 16, 2021 at 11:33 am
@Mercator Fair enough. You bring up pros and cons regarding both providers and I appreciate that objectivity. I think there was some experimenting going on with what matches would air on Peacock to see how they can further grow the subscriptions (right or wrong). I haven’t recently seen the real high profile matches on Peacock of late.
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Where ESPN is strong, is their streaming app presence, but the downside is way too much of the same content is already there (its crowded), and not everyone just wants to only watch a match and get nothing else. That’s not how a league can be marketed and further grow.
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So Peacock is what made you sour about NBC. And Peacock is getting an overhaul by beginning of 2022. Stay tuned.
Michael F
November 16, 2021 at 11:15 am
@Ra I have stated this before, that I don’t think its in the best interests of fans that follow other Euro domestic leagues to have EPL added to ESPN+. Some of its coverage and matches will suffer due to resources. People had complained this very site of some Bundesliga matches not airing on ESPN+ when LaLiga got all the attention with its launch.
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Btw… is LaLiga really that much more popular than Bundesliga, that ESPN decided to prioritize the coverage of LaLiga? Imagine now if EPL comes on board. Someone or something gets pushed into the background. That’s what ESPN did to the NHL years ago, when college football, basketball, NBA, NFL, MLB etc was given all the priority.
Mercator
November 16, 2021 at 11:12 am
@JP – Agreed on the NHL, and this is probably what we should expect from the EPL. I do not think ESPN will generally be putting out a better broadcast than NBC, it will almost certainly be a slight step down in production. But this is well worth it to most fans who can now cut out paying for Peacock (maybe cable entirely) to watch on a much better platform which also has just about every other sport people want to watch. Compare ESPN’s NHL reception to the reception WWE got on Peacock. The shift to Peacock was also a big price cut for WWE fans, but from what I have heard Peacock is so bad they actually would prefer to go back to the prior arrangement where they paid more. I don’t know any Hockey fan who, all things considered, wants the NHL back on NBC.
@Michael F – PL Morning were ruined when they started throwing big EPL matches on Peacock while a replay of a monster truck rally aired on NBCSN. NBC Gold was fine, if you want to watch the bottom 5 teams in the league then go and pay for it. But when Peacock arrived they started taking top matches and putting them on Peacock, and half the time the app literally did not work. Before, you turned on NBCSN and there it is, that’s your morning. Now, you are messing around with 3 channels and this Peacock nonsense to find the game. It’s ridiculous and often I just don’t bother and will watch the Sky broadcast or go to ESPN+ to watch Bundesliga. It’s been completely ruined and it’s not coming back because NBCSN is shutdown! PL mornings will be watching the credits of Law and Order on USA before they jump straight to kickoff, and then screwing with Peacock to find the post-game analysis.
No one is trying to spin anything. Believe it or not before the Peacock nonsense, I could not say enough good things about NBC. I don’t like ESPN really – they mess around with CFB, overpromote the NBA and always use the same annoying talking heads no one likes. But ESPN+ is the gold standard and ESPN as a marketing machine is unmatched. Most of the EPL games for the new rights package will be on streaming – we know this. NBC is no longer fit for purpose in that environment.
Michael F
November 16, 2021 at 10:58 am
@Mercator quote: “Look at how pleased most Hockey fans are with the change from NBC to ESPN” This is due only to most out-of-market games now being on ESPN+. It is not because ESPN does better coverage of the NHL.
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as JP stated, NBC did a great job with the NHL. You obviously weren’t around years ago when the NHL was treated like a distant step child on ESPN and the very reason why the NHL divorced from them and went to NBC. Of course, now the landscape now for telecasting games and the invent of streaming has changed, so it became advantageous for the NHL to marry back into ESPN and cash in with dual providers.
Michael F
November 16, 2021 at 10:46 am
@Mercator That NBC with PL Mornings never left. It is still around. This perceived nonsense that NBC cut back this coverage was simply due to the pandemic. Everyone should easily understand that. I chuckle when I hear Kartik talk about NBC upping their game for matchday coverage this season. It never changed! For those that paid attention, it was always good, but the pandemic had its effect. And Peacock never changed that. It appears for those that cut the cord wished this coverage and all matches was on Peacock. However, PL Mornings was never on NBC Sports Gold either – only lower league club matches aired live and the shoulder programming. That switched over to Peacock on its launch, and in fact in addition – a 24/7 PL channel.
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Accurate telling of the circumstances is helpful to those reading and taking this in. Not being bitter that all EPL matches aren’t available on Peacock and so spin things a different way. All this hate toward Peacock is way over the top. It just cannot be totally justified.
JP
November 16, 2021 at 10:42 am
@Mercator, I’m in a bit higher age group so not looking to find random streams and watch on my phone or cast to my television. Just want the matches available for a reasonable price.
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Not an EPL fan, so actually want them away from ESPN/CBS so the price doesn’t jump again. Stay on Peacock where can continue to ignore and catch the odd match on NBC OTA or Telemundo if big enough to care about.
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As for NHL and ESPN, so far I think NBC did a better job with the national telecasts. The ESPN crew for the ESPN+ exclusive matches are either boring or bad. But, it’s been great for the out of market access being included for the price would’ve been paying already for soccer. No need for the extra $75-100+ NHL TV was. So in that respect, ESPN has been great for NHL.
Mercator
November 16, 2021 at 10:29 am
@Hans – It’s Comcast, they will probably make Peacock even worse. Like AT&T, they fundamentally have no idea what they are doing in this industry. Notice nothing about adding 60fps for sports, nothing about features available on competitors like Multicast, not a single mention of the repeated technical issues that made a number of EPL games completely unwatchable. They don’t get it, they are going to reorder those silly tiles and maybe put a few more events from the next Olympics on Peacock. Then they will be left confused as to why Peacock isn’t hitting its subscriber numbers while everyone under 30 pirates all the EPL games. Can anyone explain why ZERO content from Sky is on Peacock, they own both companies!
@Michael F – I agree NBC played a big part in the growth of the EPL here (PL mornings before Peacock were A+, I want that NBC back), but I actually do think the growth is in part due to the significant increase in quality and consistency of bootleg streams in the last few years. I want to say it was around 2016/2017 that things seemed to go from choppy SD quality to basically HDTV. I know this isn’t the crowd for most of you, but the EPL needs to consider this carefully because no one my age seems to watch or pay for peacock, we share bootleg links in group chat. Hans is kind of right, for younger people its really not difficult or inconvenient to find all this stuff free on the internet. I think ESPN or Amazon are the only ones in a position to break this habit among people my age, and that’s only because everyone has Amazon prime and actually most of my friends have ESPN+ (for CFB or Hockey, actually). I have a non-footy friend always bringing up La Liga matches which I guess he watches randomly on ESPN+. I try to talk about the Arsenal but there is limited interest in the EPL because the guy isn’t really a big football fan and certainly doesn’t have Peacock. You have several huge EPL fans and several fans new to football in the group chat…. and none of them are paying for peacock and none of them will. This should be the EPL’s number one concern and why they would be wise to go with ESPN – if they think their product is big enough to thrive stuck on a terrible broadcaster, with no other sports and with a streaming app no one uses… that’s a risky gamble when you have Mickey Mouse pushing your biggest competitor and all the die-hard fans can pirate the game for free (and in better quality too).
Look at what ESPN did for Formula 1. Look at how pleased most Hockey fans are with the change from NBC to ESPN. Look at what everyone, not just sports fans, thinks about Peacock. EPL please I beg you, get this one right!
Ra
November 16, 2021 at 10:17 am
@Michael F. PS: Actually the best scenario for me is for NBC to keep those rights. I have access to extended games highlights and content for free if I’m interested. (But I do believe it is for a limited time – the most obvious fix for Peacock from a profitability perspective is to end the free tier and free complimentary access along with investing in more relevant content).
2nd Amazon
3rd HBO Max
4th CBS
5th ESPN
Ra
November 16, 2021 at 10:07 am
@Michael F. I don’t dispute that they may be the best for EPL’s growth. I bet you are right and they do provide the best audience for its fans. I am not really a fan of their heavily-British coverage, but I am certain that most people who follow it love it. I like ESPN’s more cosmopolitan approach better (with people from all over Europe).
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But both NBC and EPL are more concerned with money, and I can’t say that NBC is the one that can monetize it best and may not be the highest bidder as a result.
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I am not really concerned with who gets the rights as I don’t really follow the EPL. My favorite scenario is Amazon so that it won’t increase my costs for ESPN+, Paramount+, and HBO Max.
I am now back to my regimen of Bundesliga-Brasileirao-UCL-Europa-Libertadores-Sudamericana.
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I was following EPL during a period when Germany and Brazil were playing Geisterspiele (no attendance), but now both countries are now allowing 100% capacity (exceptions still apply). The impact on the atmosphere is huge.
Michael F
November 16, 2021 at 9:44 am
@Ra To the EPL, NBC has done everything sparkling well with promoting their league in the US and the only known perceived weakness has been Peacock, which is getting an overhaul. You can spin it many different ways, just like the business does… but NBC has done an outstanding job to market and grow the EPL to what it is today in the US..
Ra
November 16, 2021 at 9:35 am
@Hans To me, the reason for the overhaul of Peacock is that NBC needs a turnaround strategy for their streaming services, which has been a failure so far. They need to convince investors that they are in control of their destiny (which is hard seem they like to prove over and over again that they are incompetent) and their executives that ‘yes, we should invest more to keep EPL rights and no, we will not lose money this time, and yes, we do have a plan on how to make money – it involves moving marquee games to Peacock and making Peacock successful. Why we haven’t done it before? Because of _____ (add your favorite scapegoat here), but now that he has been seen the door, everything will be different. We should not lose ground to ESPN and CBS.’ It always follows the same script with some variations… LOL
Michael F
November 16, 2021 at 9:18 am
@Hans Correct. This overhaul of Peacock’s streaming app by beginning of 2022 has been reported by numerous sources. It shall be intriguing to see how it looks when it occurs. I actually DO think it has impact to the effects of EPL rights. No doubt EPL pays attention to a degree of the noise and feedback from the consumer and NBC knows they had to up their game for streaming. They already lost the NHL and are putting all their bets on the EPL to telecast matches on linear and streaming. This is their bread and butter to make Peacock relative longer term.
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I also think EPL would want NBC to renew this contract with them, as NBC/Peacock provides exclusivity as the lone European soccer league, thus confirming top priority to its coverage and guaranteed OTA time slots that do not conflict with US sports all through the EPL season. EPL knows how NBC has grown the league’s interest in the US to date. It cannot be understated. EPL is just simply driving up this bidding war price as high as they can.
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Now that this is reportedly down to a two horse race with single provider to get all 380 matches (ESPN or NBC), I think this is NBC’s to lose.
Hans
November 15, 2021 at 2:00 pm
In this thread it has been mentioned that Peacock needs to change. Now as stated in the article “Peacock Overhaul Reportedly on the Way” as found in popculture . com /streaming/news/peacock-overhaul-reportedly-on-the-way/ it seems the powers to be at NBCU have come to the same conclusion here are a few quotations from the article:
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‘Peacock may be unrecognizable in 2022, with an overhaul to the app and sweeping changes to the features on the streaming service. According to an internal strategy document obtained by Business Insider, executives at NBCUniversal are considering a complete “relaunch” of Peacock in 2022. The main objective of this “strategy deck” is “mass premium customer acquisition.”‘
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‘A major part of the leaked strategy deck reportedly concerns the Peacock interface itself, noting that many users found the app “confusing.” While there are no specifics to see yet, the company plans to overhaul the look and usability of Peacock altogether, presumably across different operating systems including mobile, streaming sticks, Smart TVs and so on.’
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‘However, NBC can’t ignore the fact that Peacock is a key destination for sports fans, and it will make some changes there as well. A lot of the strategies in this document relate to the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, and how coverage will be different this time from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.’
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‘There are many other aspects of the Peacock plan to consider, but the central takeaway is that there will be big, ambitious changes with the goal of getting more paid subscribers.’
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Yep, NBCU wants to be relevant and be part of the must have streaming service and they realized they need to relaunch it because at the present with only 1.6% of the streaming market they bring up the bottom of those involved in the streaming wars. By admitting that their goal is “mass premium customer acquisition” they basically admit Peacock Version 1 had at best a lukewarm reception. To what degree this effects the EPL rights is anyone’s guess, but they recognize Peacock must improve if they want to be part of the top 4 streaming services.
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As I said many times here, I have subscribed to Peacock through Nov 2022 because of other sports, Here is for hoping of a better EPL experience in 2022 and beyond with whatever Network gets the rights.
Michael F
November 14, 2021 at 9:50 am
@Hans I can appreciate you’re being tech savvy and all, but things you and Greg described take time.
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You are in the minority as most people who don’t have the time to do all this, or just don’t want to. It’s not the real world for most. Heck, I have mostly apple products (which my son dislikes and is somewhat tech savvy), and just doing airplay from iPhone or iPad to TV is a somewhat bothersome extra step for me. Yea, I’m all for one click! I love the convenience to easily navigate through what I am watching! When I sit on couch to watch matches or movies, I don’t want think about having something else to view something. That it is worth paying a little extra for, then again, I am not hurting financially to worry about it and I fully respect and appreciate those that try to save $ where they can.
Hans
November 14, 2021 at 12:11 am
@greg
First, I gave an answer that was specifically intended for the statement “you will eventually have to pay to continue viewing that product”, you must have missed that. If you want a one click solutions, yes you have to pay for it and many times you are been taken for a ride because providers will take advantage of those who are technically challenged.
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Second, you are missing out on a side benefit from learning new things. Just Google slowdown of bringing on Alzheimer disease and you will find that learning new things to do in the technical field, or just learning a new language will contribute to the slow down of the onset of that dreaded disease as you keep your grey matter busy. So setting up a VPN will conceivable allow you to watch many more EPL games as Alzheimer is delayed. But by stating what you said I can tell you are set in your ways and this solution is lost on you and in a way I feel for you.
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When you don’t know something Google is your friend and Reddit in particular covers topics and answers like VPN for Dummies. If you would have used the magic of Google Search you would have found out that you don’t have to install a VPN client on your devices but you can buy a router that has the VPN functionality built into it. Gain without pain is worthless, everything of value requires efforts and hard work. Greedy Company bigwigs will love you as you will pay whatever they say it costs because they look at you as being a chump who is willing to support their obscene lifestyle.
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As I stated in the last sentence of my above comment “In the connected world the choices have shifted into the favor of the end user who is tech savvy” and obviously that is not everyone. You have no idea how many times I have to educate tech support on their service or products as their 1st level of support is woeful.
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We live by our choices and one click solutions come at a price that each one of us will decide if we want to pay for it. Even in my case, sometimes I am too expensive and can’t afford myself so I pay someone else for doing a job, it is a personal choice and since it is personal there is no right or wrong, just preferences.
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 8:06 pm
@greg. I totally get you’re saying, and I appreciated your reply – since you knew how to express it.
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You described a lot of what is important to me, including good DVR features. I watch most of the matches on delay or start them when they in progress. I am also on the east coast and my schedule doesn’t allow me to watch from 7am to 3pm on Saturday and Sunday. I will easily pay for convenience and ease of use. My time with family and other priorities is too important to bother with that on my personal time.
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Btw… I work on a laptop full time on my job. I collect data working in eDiscovery. The last thing I want to do is spend more time tinkering with stuff when I am off of work.
greg
November 13, 2021 at 7:29 pm
@Michael F – thanks, didn’t mean it to be so ranty but I’ve literally spent years in other usenet groups & discussion boards with the Linux crowd telling me how great blah blah blah. And then 90% of their posts are about trying to fix or patch something in a homebrew solution and meanwhile I’m reading a book, listening to music, watching a movie or hanging with friends.
So kudos to Hans & anyone who’s installed a great home network and does wifi from laptop to tv and and VPNs to Oz or wherever for the programs they want & cares about 4K and frame-rate and whatever. And then bitches when resolution or frame-rate is bad & then it turns out they’re mediating the picture on the TV by 3 or 4 steps. Me? I have the internet modem hardwired by ethernet cord to the Roku. I don’t care about 4K or whatever, just a good, uninterrupted HD feed. If on laptop I’m usually wifi but sometimes I’ll plug in the ethernet.
All I want is to turn the thing on, have it work and enjoy the football. Oh, and I want decent DVR features since I’m on the left coast. Or at least be able to start an in-progress match from the beginning or be able to scrub backwards. I know I’ll have to pay something for the service & I don’t mind, b/c as folks have said, this costs money to get the rights & broadcast, and we’re in a capitalist society (even if it’s a late-capitalist unequal rent-seeking exploitative economy, but that’s a topic for other boards) so fine, I’ll pay.
I just want to take my mind of the drudgery of work and watch some entertaining football. Is all.
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 6:54 pm
@greg. Three cheers for that reply to Hans. Thank you for adding reasonableness and balance to this debate. Although I don’t believe Hans cares as much about the other perspective.
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These tech savvy guys don’t live in the real world where most don’t want to be so inconvenienced. Like you said, they just want to plug-n-play after a long hard day or week of work.
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Convenience is just as important to some as cost savings. It is to me anyway. I’ll pay a little extra for convenience. Otherwise, not worth my trouble.
greg
November 13, 2021 at 6:42 pm
Honestly Hans, this VPN suggestion is just like people who are Linux evangelists and say people should eschew Windows or Mac OS & just install Linux, the average person is not as tech-savvy as you. A great, great majority of people don’t want to have to sudo every driver or other interface for new software or hardware. They want plug-n-play, minimal fuss. And even then lots of people, even young people, can’t manage that.
All to say this “oh, just do a VPN and search around for a cheaper foreign tv provider and then keep updating your IP address and then blah blah blah” goes over the heads of 98% of people. They want to turn on their tv & watch what they want to watch. So you need to get out of your own head when you suggest what people should do to avoid Comcast or whomever. Most people don’t have the time or patience to do it. Hell, I can do some basics but I don’t care to learn more, I have lots of other things to deal with.
Empathy & seeing things from other perspectives is a valuable thing to have in the emotional toolbox. Not saying you don’t, but you need to employ those tools to this discussion.
Which in this context is – a great majority of people want an easy & relatively cheap option to watch football. Many will already have cable or cable-like. They want to fire up NBCSN (now USA) or NBC and watch. Or DVR and watch it. If the EPL is serious about continuing to grow the product in the US, NBC is far & away the best option. If they want to chase the money, maybe NBC will be it, maybe the others.
For all our conjecture and wishful thinking, we’re at the mercy of the folks in the EPL boardroom.
SteveK
November 13, 2021 at 3:35 pm
My hope, Hans, if Amazon was not willing to bid for the whole package, was for the Premier League to allow Comcast to sync up their US rights with their UK rights, award them the rights for the next 3 years only, because then we’d have a better chance of seeing the PL offer something to us directly. But now with bids for 6 and 9 year deals being entertained that possibility remains more remote than ever. There might not even be a Premier League 3 years from now if the next Super League incarnation sticks. Piracy is no threat to the PL as long as giants like Comcast Disney and ViacomCBS are willing to commit to 6 year deals.
Hans
November 13, 2021 at 2:13 pm
@Michael F.
“I will remind you that this is how the entertainment business works. They work to gain a growing audience by giving the whole product to you so as to hook you in, and then you will eventually have to pay to continue viewing that product.”
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Ahhhh, NO! There is a price point were in a connected world many users will decide between three other options, a VPN to a provider that meets his/her price value search for Stan Sport Australia and see what they offer for $20 a month, or an IPTV provider that will give you all the sports for a fraction of the price, just search for SmoothStream, 9000 channels for $12 a month. Finally many of us watch the free stream versions for EPL matches that can be found all over the internet, but you knew that because it had been mentioned many times here before. So, NO there is a level of price where many users will say enough is enough.
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In addition and again you know this also as I have brought this up before and will add to this what the URC (United Rugby Champioship) has done. The EPL is very aware of the fact that piracy is a thread and they will eventually find a way on how to make more money by cutting out the networks. 2018 they made a study and found out if they go to DTC they would make billions more then with the network deals. It is on the table for them and may come in stages once they are happy with the pay processor and the delivery of the matches. Wouldn’t be surprised if after the present deals have expired they will go to a DTC solution.
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The URC had a deal with ESPN+ for their competition between Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Italian and South African Rugby teams. This year they went to a DTC solution with the exception of Ireland, the UK and South Africa plus a combination in Italy. All other countries will make use of the streaming solution provided by the Irish RTÉ network in a new global streaming service offering fans around the world the opportunity to watch 151 games live and on-demand. For sports leagues I see that as the way they are heading, but again there is a price point where the individual will make the decision to pay or find an alternative solution.
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For me I have everything covered to my liking at what I am willing to pay and with the massive amount of games available as an avid fan you can only watch intensively one game live. For the rest there are complete games once completed from free P2P or free Usenet solutions, just search for rojadirecta. In the connected world the choices have shifted into the favor of the end user that is tech savvy.
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 2:05 pm
@dave Good clarification. Yes, I realize for example that the ESPN wild card playoff games on that Monday night will be available on an OTA network in the local area of that NFL team. But it is a playoff game, and if you are an avid NFL fan, you want to view that playoff game no matter where you are.
dave
November 13, 2021 at 1:50 pm
NFL comes up a lot. Two clarifications:
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1. It is NFL policy that all games involving team A must be available OTA in the team A viewing territory (they carved up the country). This policy includes games on ESPN, NFL, Prime, etc. Compliance with anti-siphoning can cause issues for customers in the team A territory whose antennae do not receive the team A OTA
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2. Thursday Night Football is not the best analog. It is the NFL so rights are inherently valuable. But, there is a long history of TNF being the “player to be named later” of the league. There is impetus to cancel it (many players and teams do not like being involved, many fans of teams not in the game do not watch), though the owners like the money so it continues for another decade
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 1:26 pm
@illya. Oh and one more comment. ESPN is exclusively airing a wild card playoff game on Monday nights over the next 5 years, starting this January. No OTA availability. You need a cable-like subscription.
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 1:12 pm
@illya. This argument of yours we’ve heard many times and it is lame. Of course most NFL games are on OTA networks but not everyone has a strong OTA antenna or in rural areas where they need cable or SAT to get a good strong reliable signal.
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I live in a town in the valley, and have a strong roof antenna and still get pixelation on windy and stormy days on local OTA channels. OTA is just not as reliable for some. And it’s quite frankly inconvenient for some to have to switch over with different methods to watch something. That could even be an argument for those that dislike streaming apps. The content is all over the place. That’s not me, I am ok with it… but you have to face the fact there is more one has to do to get to their content.
dave
November 13, 2021 at 1:10 pm
@Don writes “Over at CBS even if they put a match on CBSN/CBS it is still available on Paramount”, a sentiment that is debated at some length in the replies.
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This is not an ironclad CBS policy for soccer. NWSL games on CBSSN are not shown live on Paramount+. I believe Turner and B/R first made all UCL/UEL games (even those on TV) available to stream and CBS continued and expanded on that. But, CBS went a different direction for NWSL, and there is no guarantee they would not do so for EPL.
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 1:02 pm
I want to relay a little history as an example. All will remember how wonderful it was for the viewer to be able to have all EPL matches available live via all the NBC network channels before the days that streaming apps took a foot hold. Then some time after, NBC launched their own streaming app and lower profile EPL matches began to to only show up on NBC Sports Gold streaming app. Of course people weren’t happy about that, because they had to pay extra to obtain access to all EPL matches.
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Now before you Comcast haters begin to reply that this is Comcast being Comcast, I will remind you that this is how the entertainment business works. They work to gain a growing audience by giving the whole product to you so as to hook you in, and then you will eventually have to pay to continue viewing that product. If you think it’s any different anywhere else, you are naive. Businesses are in it for the money… to make money. They will need to cash in eventually.
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Now look at ESPN+. They started at $5 a month and added soccer leagues and 30/30 shows and now highlight shows and now boxing and UFC fighting and now (oh my!) they now have most out-of-market NHL regular season games! What a deal! They are hooking you in! Subscription price is still darn cheap in comparison to cable-like subscription costs. But it won’t stay that way. Wake up and realize that all this added content has a cost associated with it. The business needs to make their money off it. No one goes into any business venture to lose money — even rich happy Disney. They are rich because they know how to do business.
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Five years from now, I will be shocked if the ESPN+ subscription cost is not quadruple that of today. Especially if cable is a thing of the past (which is sort of a pipe dream to occur that soon).
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And then we will hear soccer fans whine about how they have to pay for boxing and UFC and NHL hockey, when all they want is their soccer.
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Sounds like cable, doesn’t it? What goes around, eventually comes around. That’s the business and cost of entertainment. You want it, you will eventually have to pay for it.
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Enjoy the low cost streaming apps while they last. Because it won’t last. That’s just reality.
Ilya
November 13, 2021 at 1:00 pm
SteveK I watch my local nfl team with OTA antenna I don’t need a cable subscription so stop lying. If local game on Monday or Thursday you can’t still watch it over antenna. You confuse NFL vs MLB or NBA aces which require cable subscription.
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 12:29 pm
@SteveK. Outstanding point. All the American sports leagues (NHL, NBA, MLB etc) have a yearly regular season subscription that does NOT include their playoffs… the games that is at the highest demand for viewership. All those games, require a cable-like subscription.
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If/when everything went to streaming apps and cable-like conglomerates are long gone, we can only imagine that people will have to pay a fortune to view these playoff games via those streaming apps.
SteveK
November 13, 2021 at 12:23 pm
You obviously don’t watch football Hans, and I don’t think your quotes mean what you think they mean. It is possible to watch your NFL Sunday Ticket on streaming services, apps and devices, you don’t need a satellite dish, but for your 300 bucks here’s what you don’t get:
It is out of market games only, so no local teams, the team most would likely want to watch;
To watch your local team you’d still need a …wait for it…cable subscription;
It also doesn’t include the Thursday Sunday or Monday night games because they are not on CBS or FOX, you’d still need a…wait for it…cable subscription;
It doesn’t include the playoffs, which, is kind of important, so you’d need a…cable subscription.
It is folly to think this is going away anytime soon…all NFL games, all live, all on one package? Talk about a unicorn…
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 12:08 pm
@Hans. I think you misread my take as I am a cable supporter and don’t like streaming apps. You couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t care where I have to watch something, I just know the reality is there is a cost for entertainment. You said yourself that EPL is niche and yet they want a ransom for some provider(s) to pay up for it to air their matches in the US. Why do you think Comcast is not making a lot of money on the EPL or breaking even, as reported? That’s because it is niche.
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I think you are dreaming if you think these sports leagues transitioning from linear to all stream apps is not going to have its cost for the consumer. Of course it is. We will still have to pay eventually. We are simply just viewing it from a different source. To think otherwise, is really looking at this very short-sightedly.
Hans
November 13, 2021 at 11:59 am
The handwriting is on the wall and not only for Soccer and the EPL, get with it. Lets take it out of the EPL realm. Regarding the NFL Sunday Ticket being available via streaming the same reasoning could be applied to the EPL quoting from deadspin . com article “NFL Sunday Ticket on a streaming service? Yes… PLEASE! They all want it, and the NFL wants to cash in — so let’s do this” the article has this statement:
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“I don’t care who gets it — as long as I can access it via an app like I do NBA League Pass. For that, I’ll spring for Apple+ and finally tune in to Ted Lasso, or even upgrade to Hulu Live. It is 2021 and a satellite dish is not a status symbol. It’s an inconvenience”.
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“The NFL is already making its move into streaming. Beginning in 2022, Thursday Night Football will be broadcast exclusively on Amazon Prime. There is no better way for them to cash on streaming than by putting Sunday Ticket on a service.”
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Couldn’t put it any better regarding the EPL, “It is 2021 and a cable subscription is not a status symbol. It’s an inconvenience”. AMEN
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 11:54 am
@SteveK. Sorry to continue replying to your posts, but you are exactly right again. There have been comments on this site already that they would not pay up to $200 for a premier league season pass as a hypothetical brought up on a recent WST podcast if Amazon got it.
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Like I said, there will be plenty of complaining about ‘something’ regarding the next EPL tv contract in the US, no question about it. Will it be better than the current NBC contract right now? That’s a very subjective take, depending on you talk to. And usually the complainers are the ones you hear, repeatedly. Echo chamber!
SteveK
November 13, 2021 at 11:48 am
Eddy: “One thing I feel with soccer only fans is they don’t know the broader sporting horizon as well as they should” is a very good assessment of the soccer only or “soccer mainly” fan mindset, the transition of live sports on network and cable TV from linear TV to cord cutting streamer apps will be long and messy and we are still at its infancy. I’m in the “soccer mainly camp” at the moment but do also watch major American sports and when it comes to the next 6 years of watching the Premier League if we are talking Comcast or joint CBS/ESPN it is still going to be very messy. The pipe dream of Amazon swooping in for the whole 380 game package and putting all 380 on Amazon Prime likely won’t happen…but if it did by some miracle there would all of a sudden be a new Premier Prime tier for big bucks…but at least that would have appeased the “I want it all in one app” crowd as they shelled out their several hundred bucks.
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 11:38 am
@SteveK. Right again. Thank you. It’s funny that Hans remarks how EPL is a niche sport league in the US, which is very true… yet he has gone on this endless charade of blasting and Comcast names like they are so incredibly different than any other provider that does their business. He obviously is dying to watch all high profile EPL matches they way he wants to (via streaming apps only), so it’s a selfish thing. I get that, to a degree. But to leave out facts for his convenience and only report negative press on Comcast and nobody else constantly on this site is just being incredibly subjective.
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For all those jump on his band wagon of this ‘we want all on streaming apps’ echo chamber, there are that many others here that have had enough of it. And be careful for what you ask for. You may not like the next EPL agreement with the other provider or providers at all. After all, it is a business and they will want to make it as cost effective and lucrative as they can, anyway they can. I am sure plenty will be complaining here on this site in no time. It is the fashionable thing to do these days… whine and complain.
SteveK
November 13, 2021 at 11:26 am
Hans, I’m probably as old as you and age doesn’t have anything to do with this. With respect, if ESPN and CBS win they will force you to buy a cable subscription or a Sling/Fubo type service in addition to a monthly fee for their streamer app, too, just like Comcast currently does, how can you not see that? There is no winner that will put all 380 live Premier League games on a single app. That’s the linear sports influence. You act like the silly game Comcast plays isn’t also played by ESPN–you must not watch much soccer on ESPN+ because if you did you’d see all sorts of games that are on ESPN or ESPN2 or ESPN3 that you can’t access on ESPN+ unless you have…wait for it…a cable subscription.
And, it is a foolish assumption to make that just because ESPN+ or Paramount+ handles a certain minor soccer property a certain way right now that that is how they will handle the Premier League, the only major soccer property. There’s no way to predict what either ViacomCBS or Disney will do if they get a slice of the Premier League pie. But if I were a betting man, I’d say it is much more likely that they won’t put all of their 190 games live on their streamer apps.
And, what makes you think that Comcast’s replay policy is not something that’s dictated to them by the Premier League? That it is something Comcast is doing just to annoy us? What if the Premier League itself is dictating that to Comcast? Think they wouldn’t do the same to CBS and ESPN?
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 11:16 am
@Hans. What you state is not exactly true. There have been Serie A matches last season aired on linear ESPN channels that never was put on ESPN+ later on demand. You just haven’t paid close enough attention.
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Now it’s possible that practice will no longer occur with airing LaLiga and Bundesliga this season, but it happen from the ESPN provider last season. So speak facts if your going to bring something up.
Hans
November 13, 2021 at 11:11 am
@SteveK
Big difference here. Comscum puts the EPL games 24h after they appear on cable on Peacock. NOT the same practice with the other streaming services. ESPN & Paramount+ either put them on simultaneously or put it on the streaming service very shortly after completion.
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Don has put the spotlight on the biggest difference, the age gap. There is a LARGE group of us here who don’t want a cable package, Internet connection plus streaming service is all we want so we can have ALL games on any device we want to wherever we are, NOT just on the cable box and the TV, this is is a generational gap, in line with OK Boomer.
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I have no objection if Comscum keeps the EPL rights as long as they abandon their silly game they play by wanting to force people to get a cable subscription and that is the sentiment of those here who want the EPL to leave NBCU.
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Finally as rightly pointed out most likely the majority of EPL fans “don’t know the broader sporting horizon” here in the US, the EPL is a niche market. In the US ONLY 7% are interested in Soccer and that includes MSL, North & South American competitions as well as World Cup competitions. The EPL will not move the needle to the degree many here may hope for.
Michael F
November 13, 2021 at 11:08 am
@SteveK. Exactly. And to say that “NBC is the worst for the soccer experience” is definitely a very subjective statement. Usually one who is this subjective, is one that is old and hard headed.
Eddy
November 13, 2021 at 10:17 am
@Don alot of people just think CBS is getting out of the CFB since they lost the SEC rights. They don’t lose the rights til 2024 and have already said to be in the hunt for college Football Big 12 and PAC-12 rights. One thing I feel with soccer only fans is they don’t know the broader sporting horizon as well as they should. I can assure you they’ll have a replacement for the SEC so these magical open dates that people think the EPL will have on a network like CBS as they have now on NBC won’t exist. Even if highly unlikely CBS gives up their decades old tradition of carrying college football. That still leaves 2 more years of College Football on big CBS.
That’s not to say CBS won’t bid but games will still likely have College Football on Sat and NFL on Sunday something thats not a issue on NBC and means we’d see a lot of Paramount Plus games and CBS Sports Network games,
SteveK
November 13, 2021 at 9:27 am
Don, why do you think Disney and ViacomCBS wouldn’t employ the exact same strategy as Comcast should they win the bidding? What makes you think ESPN+ and Paramount+ would have every single Premier League match live? I think it is just as likely that plenty of games would be on ABC, ESPN & ESPN2 and CBS & CBSSN and NOT on their streamer apps…which is precisely what Comcast has done and which has so rankled a certain subset of viewers here. You’ll still need a cable package plus a streaming app subscription or two.
So what have you gained exactly?
Don
November 13, 2021 at 9:12 am
People begging for it to stay with NBC are apparently old or just hard headed. NBC is the worst for the Soccer experience. To get ALL the matches you need a Live expensive service plus the streaming service.
Over at CBS even if they put a match on CBSN/CBS it is still available on Paramount. CBS will have Saturdays open too since they lost the SEC games. Hopefully they lost them just so they could put in a major offer for EPL.
If NBC does lose the matches what would keep your favorite commentators from leaving to CBS or ESPN.
My vote is for CBS to get it.
Eddy
November 11, 2021 at 5:34 pm
@Rick ESPN isn’t sitting out MLS for now or anytime they will be a partner don’t get suckered into media talking points the same media said EPL was getting a $3 billion deal were peddling that story. Jonathan Tannenwald reported a nugget back in May and got little coverage that people in his circles believe MLS and ESPN all but already had a deal done also mentions CBS. Interview starts at min 52:00 https://youtu.be/buDMgZSOPIo?t=3120
dave
November 11, 2021 at 3:26 pm
@SteveK, I am generally aligned with your comment “I wonder if ESPN’s $1.4 billion $178 million per year for the next 8 years La Liga “deal” entered into their thinking…”
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It was interesting to see “discipline” used by ESPN to describe their EPL bid. That is not a word I would associate with their winning La Liga bid. A frothy sale needs at least one (preferably two plus) potential buyer who is “aggressive” or “desperate” rather than “disciplined”.
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I suspect EPL may see its US rights as significantly more valuable than La Liga. Perhaps negotiators were hoping for, say, $2.5 billion over 6 years (2.5x La Liga per year) and had a rude awakening when they unsealed the bids. I am quite intrigued to learn who wins what and why.
Rick
November 11, 2021 at 3:02 pm
Why assume that a 380 game RFP means that NBC is the favorite? CBS has Saturdays and Disney Sundays available for linear broadcasts.
Disney lost UEFA and is sitting out MLS for now.
CBS is losing the SEC in a few years.
SteveK
November 11, 2021 at 2:36 pm
2nd round of bidding, only the 380 game package, all or nothing…if that’s accurate, let’s speculate how the bidding has played out so far:
1. Comcast only submits a bid to retain the full 380 game package;
2. ViacomCBS and Disney each submit a bid for a partial package which when combined are less than the NBC bid;
3. As a result the partial packages are taken off the table and new bids for only the full 380 game package are requested.
I wonder if ESPN’s $1.4 billion $178 million per year for the next 8 years La Liga “deal” entered into their thinking…
locofooty
November 11, 2021 at 1:29 pm
Welp! Nevermind then. To avoid monopolies and maintain some sort of balance between streaming services, hope it stays with NBC then. Either make Peacock more appealing or have all the matches show on Peacock. Doubt it though since it’s really Comcast, a cable company, and not NBC or Peacock who is behind. Keep giving me all available match windows on Telemundo/Universo and we’ll be good.
JP
November 11, 2021 at 12:57 pm
@SC, if only the 380 package is available and the contenders are ESPN, CBS, and NBC, must say that’s probably good for people who want it to stay on NBC. For one, that still involved in this late stage (for full package). Secondly, for ESPN and/or CBS, most of us projected some sort of joint bid (with each other, NBC, Fox, etc)
SC
November 11, 2021 at 12:54 pm
Martin Ross (@martingrantross on Twitter) of SportBusiness dot com (not SBJ) is reporting that only the 380 game package is available in Round 2 with bids due next Thursday.
Sean Johansen
November 11, 2021 at 11:08 am
Well according to The Times it’s gone to a second round of bidding between, NBC, CBS and ESPN.
Tayo
November 11, 2021 at 9:22 am
@CornerPost Lee Dixon is a clown, someone who is unserious when calling games. I’d take the world feed over him. Arlo White is not bad…
CornerPost
November 11, 2021 at 7:40 am
Good luck NBC.
I like it when they use White/Dixon/Le Saux instead of the world feed.
Who knows what another channel would do.
Ben
November 10, 2021 at 9:14 pm
Please win these rights back NBC! If Fox gets those rights it will be over for the EPL and soccer fans. Here in the U.S. Some of you clowns complaining over ESPN+ and peacock fees? Imagine Fox charging you $30 a month for Fox Sports Plus..
Rick
November 10, 2021 at 2:54 pm
@Sean: I already stated it wasn’t complicated. It is indeed unnecessarily consumer unfriendly for the same content provider to subject us to this shell game. I shouldn’t have to look at third party guides…and not everyone has Comcast.
I go to the Paramount+ app and I find all the games under the same tile (UCL or Serie A). When I go to the ESPN app, and select “Soccer” I see everything that is live and upcoming, whether it is on ESPN linear or ESPN+. ESPN+ is also giving me Bunde, La Liga, Eredivsie, FA Cup and Carbao Cup.
Peacock is giving me EPL (sometimes, depending on what they decide to do on any particular day)…and absolutely nothing else.
Of course I’ll deal with it if NBC wins the rights, but there’s no question what my preference is.
Sean Johansen
November 10, 2021 at 2:30 pm
It’s pretty easy to work our where EPL games are on NBC. Either look at the guide on this site. Or if you are an Xfinity customer, say soccer into the remote and choose premier league and it lists all the games. Not rocket science.
Rick
November 10, 2021 at 1:15 pm
Fingers crossed for any media entity that doesn’t feel comfortable with randomly sticking different time slots in different apps (except for 12:30 ET on Sat which seems to be pretty stable)!!!
No, determining where the game can actually be seen isn’t rocket surgery or time-consuming, but it is low-rent, consumer unfriendly and very annoying.
Tony
November 10, 2021 at 12:47 pm
Fingers crossed for NBC !!!!
Mitchell
November 10, 2021 at 10:18 am
Hard to say, I know, but do you really think it will take one to two weeks, Christopher?
Christopher Harris
November 10, 2021 at 10:20 am
I’d be very surprised if it would take that long. This is the first time the current NBC Sports Chairman is doing a Premier League renewal deal, so he doesn’t have experience with it.
José Cerrato
November 10, 2021 at 10:17 am
Espero que NBC siga teniendo los derechos de la mejor liga del mundo.
#EPL 📺⚽️