With planning for the upcoming NFL season under way,
"it is becoming apparent that the networks that agreed to
pay the richest broadcasting-rights deal ever plan to make
their advertisers pay the bill," and sports-marketing
experts "believe the time could be right" for a new football
league, according to Edward Moran of the PHILADELPHIA DAILY
NEWS. Industry sources say that execs at NBC and Turner
have been directed from the "very top" to get plans for a
new league going, and the decision to begin "could come by
the end of the month." NBC Sports VP/Communications Ed
Markey called the discussions "absolutely serious." Markey:
"Perhaps by the end of the month we'll know more." Moran
writes that while many believe the NBC/Turner plan has the
"best chance" among any proposed new leagues of working,
others think that "enough problems exist to stop them,"
including the quality of play and market oversaturation.
But Saatchi & Saatchi VP Jack Irving said there is "a lot of
backlash in the advertising industry regarding the existing
[NFL] advertising opportunities right now ... If there is a
new league with attractive prices with rating guarantees,
you may see some fallout." But BBDO NY President Steve
Grubbs said that he "has doubts" about a new league: "[I]t
sounds like the CBA vs. the NBA" (DAILY NEWS, 4/15).
