CBS Will Pay $1 Billion-Plus for NFC Package

Another piece of the NFL television contract puzzle fell into place Thursday when CBS announced that it will pay slightly more than $1 billion for the rights to Sunday afternoon NFC games and NFC playoff games during the next four seasons, plus the 1992 Super Bowl in Minneapolis.

CBS’ acquisition of the ’92 Super Bowl means a change in the rotation. Under the old format, NBC would have televised that game and CBS the ’93 game. ABC earlier acquired the rights to the ’91 Super Bowl next January in Tampa, Fla.

The question now is, which network will televise the ’94 Super Bowl, the final one covered in the four years of this contract?

NBC’s part of the contract may be announced today or early next week. It has been predicted that NBC would pay $700 to $800 million for the AFC package and one Super Bowl--the ’93 game, which the Rose Bowl is seeking to stage.

But the change in rotation could mean NBC will get two consecutive Super Bowls, in both ’93 and ‘94, and end up paying close to $1 billion.

That would make the total television revenue nearly $4 billion, or about $35 million per team per year, which is more than double the amount under the old contract.

A more likely possibility, according to one source, is that the NFL will simply award the ’94 game to the highest bidder, which might include Turner or ESPN.

Cable is able to pay a higher price because it can pass the cost along to subscribers, while the major networks have to depend solely on sponsors.

Turner and ESPN combined have agreed to pay $900 million to the NFL for Sunday night games.

In comparison, ABC is getting a lot more for its money--Monday night games, a considerably more valuable commodity, plus first-round playoff games and a Super Bowl--for $1 billion.

CBS’ $1-billion package is just one of a series of recent big-money deals for that network. Others include $1.06 billion for four years of baseball, $1 billion for seven years of the NCAA basketball tournament and $543 million for the next two Winter Olympics.