PRO FOOTBALL : CBS Hit by Fox From the Blind Side

Really, the deal is staggering. Just ask CBS, which was blindsided last week when the NFL awarded its National Football Conference package for the next four years to the Fox Television Network. CBS never saw it coming.

Fox was a player, sure. Everybody knew that. Only nobody knew it would win the game. At first, the news leaked that Fox had offered $100 million more than CBS for the NFC package. That was impressive. Then it became evident that it was $100 million more per year.

The NFL grabbed Rupert Murdoch’s money and ran. Waved bye-bye to CBS. Loyalty has its limits, obviously.

If CBS felt blindsided by Fox, it was because network officials were led to believe that if they just raised their previous bid by a few dollars, everything would be fine. CBS did that, adding $38 million to its previous $1.06 billion commitment. CBS felt secure. It was not.

We should have expected no less in 1993. Dallas Cowboys’ Owner Jerry Jones, a member of the NFL broadcast committee who personally courted Murdoch, paid $140 million for his franchise in 1989, not the $4 million to $8 million that some of the more established owners paid for their clubs.

The new-breed owner of the NFL is interested only in the bottom line. The bottom line: The league that generated a whopping $3.65-billion TV package four years ago just did the unthinkable by raising the ante to an estimated $4.5 billion for the next four years.

Just don’t let NFL owners cry about player loyalty when the free-agent signing period begins March 1. Then again, don’t expect the players to do anything but laugh on the way to the bank. They are guaranteed 66% of owner revenues under next year’s salary cap.

CBS broadcaster Pat Summerall was in Detroit, preparing for his network’s telecast of the Detroit-San Francisco game, when the word game down about Fox. His eyes were opened.

“I have been doing the NFL on CBS since 1962, (and) I guess you take things for granted,” Summerall says. “This morning at the 49ers’ practice, I told some of the players some broadcasters might be out of a job, but all they said was their salary cap now would go up.”

CBS and the NFL had been close partners through the years, starting in 1956. It was CBS’s telecast of the 1958 NFL championship game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants that was considered the league’s breakthrough game on a national level. The fan got hooked on the NFL that day.

The NFC was a valuable property because the major markets belonged to it ... the New York Giants, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles. Even the sentimental favorite, Green Bay, was an NFC market.

And despite losing $150 million over four years on the contract that expires this season, CBS continued to use the NFC/NFL audience as a vehicle to promote its prime-time programs. The network’s biggest show, “60 Minutes,” has used the NFL as a lead-in.

As for Fox, we can only wait and see. Obviously, projections of a $500-million loss don’t impress the deep pockets of Mr. Murdoch. Just as CBS used the NFL to promote its prime-time programming, so will Fox. The football deal also will allow Fox to expand its market penetration from about 94% of the nation to 99%.

(It may not surprise you to hear that Fox may have gotten the rights to televise late Sunday games at 5 p.m. ET, which could have a negative impact on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” which airs at 7 p.m. ET. This is commonly known as adding insult to injury.)

The NFL took the Fox deal because of the money. Any other explanation seems ludicrous, but Fox made a tremendous commitment to promote the league on a year-round basis. In the beginning, ratings may dip slightly, but the NFL is hoping to expand its audience to include the elusive 18-to-34 age bracket that all advertisers target. Fox has those youthful viewers, you know.

Youthful but not innocent. But then, in 1993, few things are innocent in the world of professional sports business. Just ask CBS.

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JUST AS NFL Players Assn. executive director Gene Upshaw had suggested, the salary-cap scare was no more than that. A scare.

Originally, because of network threats to cut back TV revenue, NFL owners had told their executives that teams probably would have only $30 million to $32 million to spend on player salaries in 1994. Now, teams figure to have no less than $39 million to spend on salaries and possibly more.

That could mean the rich get richer, at least in the case of San Francisco, which has a payroll of $42 million in ’93.

The 49ers’ payroll, along with several other clubs, is inflated because of player contracts that were structured or restructured to be front-loaded into the capless ’93 season. Nevertheless, the new TV deal will give the 49ers more flexibility to retain potential free agents such as offensive tackles Harris Barton and Steve Wallace, guard Guy McIntyre, cornerback Don Griffin and wide receiver John Taylor.

The same could be said for the Cowboys, who have four offensive linemen who are potential free agents, not to mention defensive tackle Tony Casillas and fullback Daryl Johnston.

Still, it remains to be seen just how much Owner Jerry Jones will dish out, even with a new wad of cash. And, it remains to be seen how much loyalty Jones commands compared with 49ers Owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., who is more beloved by his players.

Another point: Philadelphia is trying to sign linebacker Seth Joyner and defensive end Clyde Simmons because both can become unrestricted free agents March 1. The Eagles offered each player a reported $10 million over three years. The players didn’t jump, and that was before news of the new TV deal became known.

Unless they’re blown away by offers, count on player agents to steer their clients to the free-agent market.

So, it says here there remains hope for New England Coach Bill Parcells, providing he can get a new owner to sign the checks. Because of the Patriots’ low salary level, Parcells could have had as much as $20 million to spend on free agents under the old TV formula. Now, he may have $28 million.

As for the cries of the Bengals, Rams and Buccaneers that they’ve been robbed before the store is open, it’s hard to buy. Although the three protested a ruling that allows teams to sweeten player contracts without having it count against the ’94 cap, it’s hard to imagine the Bengals, Rams and Bucs diving in to take advantage of other clubs’ cap problems. Since when have these teams truly put their money where their mouths are? If anything, the latest developments offers them a convenient excuse to be ordinary again.

Besides, there will be plenty of free agents out there with their hands open. You’ll hear them knocking.

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IT HAS COME to my attention that several players were left off my NFC-AFC Pro Bowl ballots. Here’s a bunch of them: Oilers FS Marcus Robertson (hurt, out for the year), Oilers QB Warren Moon, Jets QB Boomer Esiason, Jets OLB Mo Lewis, Raiders CB Terry McDaniel, Steelers OT John Jackson, Raiders DE Anthony Smith, Browns DT Michael Dean Perry, Broncos SS Dennis Smith, Seahawks FS Eugene Robinson, Broncos RB Rod Bernstine, Seahawks C Ray Donaldson, Rams C Bern Brostek, Cowboys G Nate Newton, Saints OT William Roaf, 49ers OT Steve Wallace, Bears MLB Dante Jones, Saints ILB Vaughan Johnson, Cardinals CB Aeneas Williams, Redskins CB Darrell Green, Giants S Greg Jackson, Vikings S Vencie Glenn and Falcons K Norm Johnson. I’m sure there are more. Maybe these guys (the ones left off) can play the winner of the Pro Bowl. But for goodness sake, don’t forget that 49ers OT Harris Barton is overdue a Pro Bowl starting spot.

The Pro Bowl will be shown Feb. 6 on ESPN, but ABC secured the all-star game for the next four years under the new contract.