NFL new media chief Chris Russo is leaving the league to put out his own shingle as a new media and investment adviser.
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| Russo joined the NFL in 1999 and worked on the league’s current Internet rights deal with AOL, Viacom and SportsLine.com, and the NFL’s first satellite radio rights deal with Sirius. |
The move comes after the league last week officially announced its new agreement making Sprint the NFL’s official wireless telecom sponsor in a deal that will allow the company to deliver exclusive and original NFL content to mobile phones. A source familiar with the deal confirmed the $600 million total figure first reported by SportsBusiness Journal in June.
Russo will continue as senior vice president of new media at the NFL until Labor Day. His company, CR Media Ventures LLC, will launch next month and be based in New York City. The company will assist those looking to invest in new media and serve as an adviser for property rights holders hoping to exploit the growing number of digital distribution channels.
“Clearly there’s a business model established for the Internet, while wireless is still trying to establish one,” Russo said. “I also see a lot more digital content going the way of music and selling directly to consumers. So with all that opportunity remaining, it was the right time for me to become a principal in a business.”
Russo, 40, joined the league in 1999, as the dot-com explosion was mushrooming. His tenure included working on the league’s current Internet rights deal with AOL, Viacom and SportsLine.com, closing the NFL’s first satellite radio rights deal with Sirius, ramping up the NFL’s online auction and fantasy businesses, and restructuring the NFL’s publishing and photo businesses.
The NFL has not named a successor, but some think that with NFL Network CEO Steve Bornstein weighing in on the decision, an executive from Bornstein’s former employer ESPN would be a likely choice.
Topping the agenda of Russo’s successor will be a new Internet rights deal. The current agreement expires after this season. The NFL’s last Internet payday doesn’t stand up to its television riches, but the five-year, $350 million deal ($110 million of it cash) that it signed in 2001 with AOL, Viacom/CBS and SportsLine.com was the biggest online sports rights deal of its time — and a hefty increase from the previous three-year, $10 million deal with the ESPN Internet Group.
Additional companies are now interested in the league’s Internet rights. Sources said they include NFL broadcast rights holders CBS, ABC/ESPN and Fox, along with Internet sports stalwarts such as Yahoo! and MSN. Sources said that broadband access providers including Verizon and Comcast have now expressed interest in the NFL’s interactive rights.
