THE SIDELINES : NBC’s TV Contract for Football Sends NFL Income Skyrocketing
The NFL’s television income soared to about $3.6 billion today when sources said NBC agreed to a new contract for its Sunday American Football Conference package and the 1993 Super Bowl.
Sources put the NBC contract at between $800 million and $900 million, slightly less than what ABC paid for its Monday night package and close to what ESPN and TBS combined to pay for cable rights over the next four years. NBC paid $360 million for three years under the old agreement.
On Thursday, CBS agreed to a four-year contract that maintains its Sunday National Football Conferencepackage. The deal, which cost the network more than $1 billion, includes rights to the 1992 Super Bowl in Minneapolis.
Combined, the deals will nearly double what each team gets from television--from $17 million per team last season under the $1.428-billion contract that expired after the last Pro Bowl to between $30 million and $32 million.
The contracts will have to be ratified at the league meetings, which open Sunday in Orlando, Fla.
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