SBJ Media: Roger Goodell Discusses NFL Rights

I am trying to emotionally gear myself up for dropping my daughter off at Holy Cross this weekend. My Friday drive to Worcester will be a long one.

GOODELL OK WITH SILICON VALLEY BIDDING FOR NFL GAMES

Goodell emphasized the media angle for international growth during a chat at NFL HQ

• NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has no issues with the technical qualifications of the country’s big digital companies -- like Amazon, Google or Facebook -- and said he expects several of them to bid on the league’s rights when they are up in three years. Speaking in an exclusive interview with SBJ football reporter Ben Fischer, Goodell said, “These are really very sophisticated companies. They are making huge investments into video. I firmly believe, and I hear this more consistently, that live sports can make a difference in a lot of those platforms. I do firmly believe that these other platforms are going to be players in future negotiations. And frankly they are in current negotiations.”
  
  
• Goodell’s words carry weight. Traditional media execs tend to get a little smug whenever anyone suggests that big tech companies will be aggressive when it comes to bidding on sports rights. Streams can still suffer from glitches, and media execs say that can cause the biggest leagues have to have second thoughts about entrusting their rights with them.
  
  
• While Goodell acknowledged that Silicon Valley has showed interest, he also reiterated the point that the NFL still prioritizes reach and believes in broadcast TV's ability to make big events even bigger. “What we have to do is make a strategic decision about a lot of things,” Goodell told Fischer. “We want to be on most platforms where we reach the most number of people. But also remember that a lot of those platforms can offer things that a linear television screen can't do.”
  
  
• The commissioner pointed to tech companies’ ability to provide interactivity and personalization as being crucial to developing Gen Z-focused content. He said the NFL would be able to grow their businesses. “Anybody in the industry would tell you that having NFL football on your platform usually leads to success.”

PATH FOR NFL SUNDAY TICKET STILL UNDECIDED

• Goodell was tight-lipped about any imminent move with the league’s out-of-market package -- NFL Sunday Ticket -- which is under contract to DirecTV through 2022. The NFL has an out in its contract that allows the league to try to find other providers. Sources said that the league has talked to Amazon, DAZN and ESPN+, but no deal is imminent.
  
  
• “Obviously AT&T-DirecTV is a different company than when we struck the deal,” Goodell said. “They have more platforms, they have more assets. The deal we have structured is a satellite-only deal, and so we'll continue to talk to them about whether that's made available to a broader audience through other platforms -- either through AT&T or otherwise, but those are things that we'll continue to have discussions about. But I expect to be partners with them for the next several years at least.”
  
  
• Look for more from Goodell’s wide-ranging Q&A with Ben Fischer in the Sept. 2 special edition of SBJ commemorating the NFL’s 100th season.

ESPN UPGRADES GRAPHICS, ANIMATION FOR NFL

ESPN's new NFL graphics package has more than a dozen team logos per team

• ESPN is changing up its NFL graphics and animation package this season so that all of its NFL studio shows and “Monday Night Football” carry the same look and feel. Networks generally change their graphics and animation packages every four to five years. ESPN’s “MNF” package was four years old; its studio show packages were five years old. The new look: “This is not your father’s 'Monday Night Football,'” said ESPN Senior Director of Motion Graphics Spike Szykowny.
  
  
• ESPN Creative Director Lucas Nickerson described the new packages as having a lot of attitude and high energy. “For the NFL, everything’s quick,” Nickerson said. “The news is coming in fast. We’re trying to fit a lot of segments into shows.” ESPN used two L.A.-based graphics companies to come up with the new designs: ManvsMachine and Big Block. Its own internal creative team also worked on the upgrade.
  
  
• An example of the changes that viewers will notice? The way ESPN presents team logos. The new graphics package has more than a dozen team logos per team. Some have the logo filled with smoke, while others are built with what Nickerson calls “liquid chrome," since it slowly forms together. "This is not just taking a logo in a shiny, 3-D, glossy render and putting it on air.” What else will be different? Nickerson: “We wanted to create a game-changing sports motion graphic package that’s really fueled by experimental attitude and raw energy. We can showcase the intensity and the speed and the power that you find in pro football.”

SPEED READS

• Altitude is warning subscribers that it's likely to go dark on Comcast, Dish Network and DirecTV this week. Dish’s deal for the Denver-based RSN ends tonight; Comcast and DirecTV’s deals end Saturday. The Kroenke family-owned Altitude holds the rights to Kroenke teams in the Nuggets, Avalanche and Rapids. Altitude says the distributors are pushing for “terms and conditions that make Altitude’s business unsustainable.” Comcast says, “The price increase Altitude is again demanding is unacceptable given the network’s low viewership.” As an independent RSN, Altitude does not have a lot of leverage. This could be a lengthy dispute.
  
  
• ESPN VP/Production Jamie Reynolds spoke with SBJ's Thomas Leary about tennis in Flushing Meadows. "The challenge for us at the U.S. Open is we ... handle 16 courts of coverage and then layer ESPN, ESPN Int’l -- and all the other broadcasters from around the world -- on top of it." See more from Reynolds' chat with Leary in tomorrow's issue of SBJ Daily.
  
  
• Expect Bleacher Report to put its Las Vegas studio to good use during NFL season, with "NFL Betting Show" and "Your Fantasy Fire Drill" airing live from Caesars Palace Sportsbook on Sundays. B/R's Adam Lefkoe also talked to SBJ about how the growth in sports betting has influenced his own NFL coverage.
  
  
• Jon Gruden is understandably the main attraction for "Hard Knocks" with the Raiders. Tight end Luke Wilson, appearing on Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" podcast, had this to say of the coach: "He’s funny man. In the meeting room, he says some stuff that is just f**king hilarious. I know [HBO and NFL Films] can’t put it on there for various reasons. But, if it’s what I think is being shown, he’s definitely like that all the time.”
  
  
• Is "Hard Knocks" a draw for millenials? I work with some writers in that demo who explain why HBO’s series isn’t working for them this season. SPOILER ALERT for anybody who hasn't seen last night's show: I hosted a podcast on the series’ penultimate episode with SBJ’s Austin Karp, John Aceti and David Rumsey.
  
  
• Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes were easily the top two players this year on SBJ's survey of the most-marketable NFL stars. A look at the TV schedule for 2019 reflects that, as the Patriots and Chiefs each have five primetime games on the docket, not to mention what will be a host of Sunday afternoon national windows.
  
  
• D.C. natives like me have fond memories of Britches of Georgetowne, which is where I bought most of my clothes well into my 20s. I still own a flannel shirt that I bought at Britches in the 1980s -- before grunge became a thing. The store closed in 2003, but reopened last year. Today, I learned that the brand, now called Britches Bespoke, will be outfitting the "Monday Night Football" on-air crew this season: Joe Tessitore, Booger McFarland and John Parry. As for sideline reporter Lisa Salters, she will be dressed by Lafayette 148.

The "MNF" crew will be outfitted by Britches Bespoke; my Britches shirt from the 1980s

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