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The league's quest for more could lead to fewer films and TV shows.
The NFL's current cash grab could have a direct impact on Hollywood. Matthew Belloni of Puck, whose beat primarily centers on Tinsel Town, explains that pro football's effort to squeeze more from broadcast networks could bust the budgets for big-screen projects. In his latest What I'm Hearing newsletter, Belloni explains that MoffettNathanson predicts the NFL's annual TV haul will increase from $10.
1 billion to $15. 9 billion . And Belloni shares this key line from the spacebar-challenged analyst's assessment of the impact of that investment: “We expect media companies will be forced to offset higher NFL costs through a reallocation of content budgets mitigating the EBITDA impact.
" In English, it means the NFL will draw from Fox, CBS, NBC, and ESPN/ABC money that would otherwise go to TV and film projects. Obviously, it's not the NFL's problem. The ROI from movies and TV shows is inherently speculative.
The NFL is a sure thing; if you show it, they will come. No one is holding a gun to the heads of the network executives. They can say no.