While the new NFL TV deal allows networks to sell title
sponsorships of their pre-game, post-game and halftime
shows, it prevents nets from selling "so-called in-game
enhancements -- sponsored programming segments such as Fox's
'Red Lobster Catch of the Day,'" according to Jensen & Ross
of AD AGE. NFL Senior VP/Broadcasting Val Pinchbeck "didn't
deny NFL sponsors" such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Sprint
"have complained that competitors were able to use such
programs to tie into pro football, diminishing the value of
their sponsor rights." But some media buyers feel the
league may have "created a problem for its TV partners.
Without enhancements, advertisers are [likely] to balk at
significant ad rate increases on NFL games" (AD AGE, 1/19).
MEDIAWEEK's Langdon Brockinton reports that "many buyers
expressed dismay about the no-enhancement rule." Said one:
"If the NFL is going to extract blood from the networks in
the form of exorbitant rights fees, why not give them a tool
to generate incremental dollars?" Brockinton adds that the
three broadcast nets "stand to lose more than" $3B over the
NFL deal's eight-year life. Brockinton: "Either advertisers
will pay significantly more for spots in a more cluttered
environment, or the networks will lose money." MEDIAWEEK
also lists the '96 Network NFL revenue -- ABC: $374.097M,
ESPN: $33.347M; Fox: $334.899M; NBC: $248.907M; TNT:
$38.354M; TOTAL: $1.029.604B (MEDIAWEEK, 1/19 issue).
MUST READ: NBC's failed bid to renew NFL TV rights is
examined by NEWSWEEK's Richard Turner. NBC Sports President
Dick Ebersol had spent the past year "building relationships
with the key three owners" of the NFL's TV committee, the
Broncos' Pat Bowlen, the Patriots' Robert Kraft and the
Cowboys' Jerry Jones. Kraft and Bowlen were even NBC's
guests at the Atlanta Olympics. Ebersol felt a run for
Monday night "made sense for CBS because its audience is
older than the other networks', and therefore less coveted
by advertisers." NBC West Coast President Don Ohlmeyer was
pushing for a Monday bid in hopes that it may eventually
push ABC into fourth-place behind Fox, and in November,
Ebersol told Bowlen that NBC might bid for Monday night.
Bowlen replied: "I really want you in football. We're good
friends. But I really have to warn you. This is really
large -- larger than you ever thought" (NEWSWEEK, 1/26).
JACKSON'S VIBE: In Boston, columnist Derrick Jackson
writes under the header, "After Mega-TV Deal, NFL Teams Can
Build Their Own Stadiums." Jackson writes that the NFL's
annual TV revenue of $2.2B is "greater than the general
revenues" of any U.S. city other than L.A., N.Y., Chicago,
Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Jackson:
"If owners want new skyboxes, they can leverage their new
value to build them. For too long the owners of the NFL
have been the National Fleecing League. With this contract,
cities that cave in to a team's cry for public assistance
are full partners in debauchery" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/21).
COKE IS IT? AD AGE's Jensen & Ross report that Coca-
Cola is "finalizing a renewal deal" with the NFL "likely to
come in at $25 million to $30 million annually, establishing
a new benchmark in pro sports sponsorship" (AD AGE, 1/19).
