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| TELEVISION SPORTS RIGHTS 2004 |
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Once a year, we are able to say "It's Here!," meaning the new edition of PSB Media's annual "Television Sports Rights" report is available. The new edition is particularly significant because its publication comes 20 years after the first "TSR" was published in 1984.
Publication of "Television Sports Rights 2004" comes at a time when ratings for many television sports events have been declining on a national basis, including those for certain "crown jewel" events. The decline became most evident in 2003, when ratings for 19 events showed 15 were down from the previous year and only four were up (Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, Belmont Stakes, French Open).
Overall, however, it is not a pretty picture nor is it one that bodes well for the continuation of what has been a consistently upward trend in television sports rights, as "Television Sports Rights 2004" makes clear. The new report comprises 12 chapters, including Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Soccer, Auto Racing, Golf, Boxing, Golf, College Sports, Other Sports, Olympics and Summary and Conclusions. There are profiles of several dozen networks that deliver sports programming to a national audience and 30 regional sports networks that deliver sports in their local markets, including one in Canada. The report also includes four Appendices and a comprehensive Index.
CHAPTER I: FOOTBALL: The current NFL television deal, the richest in sports, extends through the league's 2005 season. It is expected that the existing deal will be renegotiated sooner rather than later, which could pave the way for a new player to become part of the package. There has been considerable movement in terms of the NFL's TV partners in the last decade, with CBS out and then back in and NBC in and then out beginning with the 1998 season. It is not inconceivable that the new contract may have a different player or two, since not all of the NFL's TV partners are making money on the deal. In addition to the NFL, this chapter covers Arena Football's television rights.
CHAPTER II: BASEBALL: Despite the fact that its television ratings and attendance at many ballparks have been declining, MLB has a pair of solid television contracts with Fox (through the 2006 season) and ESPN (through 2005) which provide substantial annual revenue. Fox and ESPN emerged as Baseball's partners in the early years of the 21st century after MLB had deals with a variety of other networks, including ABC, CBS and NBC, in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000. In addition to national television distribution, the television rights of MLB clubs are a major building block of regional sports networks' programming packages.
CHAPTER III: BASKETBALL: The NBA's current television rights deal includes ABC, ESPN and AOL Time Warner, which replaced longtime rightsholders NBC and TNT/TBS. The NBA's three new network partners all are seeking to recoup their investment on the rights deal in a difficult economic environment. In addition to domestic TV distribution of the NBA, this chapter focuses on the importance of international distribution to the NBA, the league's move to High Definition television distribution, the local media rights of NBA teams and the television rights of the WNBA.
CHAPTER IV: HOCKEY: The NHL is the runt among the four major professional sports leagues in terms of generating television revenue. What's more, its viability as a television draw on network partners ABC and ESPN is constantly being debated, which means that the NHL generates substantially less in TV dollars than the NFL, MLB or NBA. What's more, NHL hockey teams posted record losses of almost $300 million in the 2002-2003 season, up 35% from $218 million in operating losses posted by the NHL in its 2001-2002 season. In addition to the NHL, this chapter reports on the TV rights of the American Hockey League.
CHAPTER V: SOCCER: Major League Soccer has a variety of national broadcast partners, including ABC Sports, ESPN/ESPN2, Fox Sports World, Fox Sports World Espanol and HDNet. ABC and ESPN/ESPN2 have been partners with MLS since the league's inception, with ESPN2 airing the lion's share of the schedule each year. ABC televises the league's opening match along with the Pepsi MLS All-Star Game and the league's championship, the MLS Cup. In addition to national TV exposure , over 90% of MLS games are shown locally on live television, giving MLS significant TV coverage.
CHAPTER VI: AUTO RACING: The televising of auto racing changed dramatically in the first years of the 21st century, with a new NASCAR television contract in place beginning in 2001 and an extension of the Indy Racing League contract with ABC and ESPN. Less settled was the situation with CART, which had a television agreement with CBS and Fox. The good news for auto racing is that it has continued to put up good ratings while the performance of other sports has lagged. In addition to NASCAR and CART, this chapter also analyzes the place of Speed Channel in the auto racing picture.
CHAPTER VII: GOLF: Golf had its traumatic moments in 2003, especially in the case of the decision by The Masters to drop television sponsors in 2003 and 2004. At the same time, the impact of Tiger Woods on golf ratings became abundantly clear in spring 2003 when his absence from certain tournaments and his being out of contention in others depressed ratings. This chapter provides an overview of PGA Tour television partners on an event by event basis and also analyzes the positions which various networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, ESPN, TNT, USA Network, The Golf Channel) have in the televising of golf.
CHAPTER VIII: BOXING: While professional boxing in the U.S. and Canada had its biggest year in the last decade in number of shows in 2003 (856, up 4.5% from 2002 and the largest number of shows since 1993), the year 2003 was not a major one in terms of big fights. With few certifiable stars, the retirement of Lennox Lewis and the hiatus of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" in fourth quarter 2004, the challenge for boxing is to develop up and coming fighters who can generate good numbers for both pay cable and pay-per-view telecasts of fights.
CHAPTER IX: COLLEGE SPORTS: This chapter provides an overview of changes in the televising of college sports, including the planned move of three teams from the Big East to the ACC Conference and the impact of that situation on TV sports rights; the renewal of NBC Sports' rights deal with Notre Dame; and ratings for bowl games, including an overview of all 2003-2004 bowl games and their television partners.
CHAPTER X: OTHER SPORTS: While PSB Media has spun off a number of sports that were once included in this chapter into separate chapters, including auto racing, soccer, boxing and golf, numerous sports remain in the "Other Sports" chapter. In "Television Sports Rights 2004," the list includes beach volleyball, bowling, bull riding, cycling, Gravity Games, horse racing, lacrosse, rugby, tennis along and the X Games.
CHAPTER XI: OLYMPICS: With television rights deals for NBC to televise the Olympics in place through 2012, the question for the peacock network is how best to exploit the potential of upcoming Olympics at a time when the economy is fiscally challenged and fans fear terrorist attacks in places where large crowds are in place. With years of experience in televising the Olympics, the challenge for NBC with 21st century Olympics will be to convince advertisers of the value of the Olympics at the same time it keeps viewers glued to their TVs with compelling coverage.
CHAPTER XII: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS: As with all PSB Media reports, "Television Sports Rights 2004" contains a "Summary and Conclusions" chapter which ties the various threads of the report together and explores what may lie ahead for TV sports. This chapter assess the strengths and weaknesses of the major network carriers of sports in terms of their current programming inventory; analyzes the desire of some professional sports teams to reclaim rights to their regional telecasts; outlines the critical television sports rights negotiations that lie ahead; and offers the traditional "A Final Word," which sets forth the major trends in the current television sports rights marketplace.
APPENDIX A, B & C: PROFILES OF NATIONAL & REGIONAL U.S. NETWORKS & REGIONAL CANADIAN NETWORKS CARRYING SPORTS
The price of the 2004 edition of "Television Sports
Rights" is $445.
Most major credit cards accepted.
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- Copyright © 2002 PSB Media. All Rights Reserved -
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