An interesting thread was released Saturday by media analyst @JWMediaDC, that cautions about the ever increasing costs for Sports Media Rights.
1) To those who think networks have an endless ammount of cash- Fact – in late Feb at a shareholders meeting FOX President Lachlan Murdoch said that to keep the NFL, we may have to shed some of our other properties or readjust what we can into shared packages
— Jim Williams (@JWMediaDC) July 4, 2026
2) CBS/Turner – David Berson and Paramount leadership have repeatedly emphasized “portfolio balancing.” The NFL is the top priority, and everything else becomes negotiable.
— Jim Williams (@JWMediaDC) July 4, 2026
3) NBCUniversal’s spinoff triggers NFL renegotiation. If the league demands a 50% bump, the new standalone NBCU will be forced to reshape its sports lineup around Sunday Night Football. The Premier League, the Big Ten, NASCAR, and the Olympics all feel the squeeze.
— Jim Williams (@JWMediaDC) July 4, 2026
4) ABC/ESPN – According to SBJ/FOS – The NFL’s next rights jump won’t just hit ESPN — it’ll squeeze college football too. With ESPN already carrying the SEC, most of the ACC, and a big chunk of the Big 12, a major NFL increase means tougher choices:
Less aggressive bidding.…
— Jim Williams (@JWMediaDC) July 4, 2026
5) Get used to streaming – This is from CNBC – The NFL can handle rising rights because streaming gives it endless windows: Prime, Peacock, YouTube, ESPN+, Paramount+, Apple. College football doesn’t have that luxury. Linear windows are shrinking fast, and the conferences…
— Jim Williams (@JWMediaDC) July 4, 2026
As I said last week, with the ongoing Protect College Sports Act Bill, I think that end-of-decade expansion is now a 50/50 proposition rather than a near certainty.
Some of the comments from Williams indicate that networks don’t have an endless supply of money and that the NFL is the priority. College Football, while in a strong position, could be squeezed to a certain extent. World Cup viewership is booming, and could cost a lot more in the future.
“For Fox,” NBC’s Mike Florio recently wrote, “the $485 million paid for the English-language World Cup broadcast rights in America may be the best investment the network has ever made.”
According to The New York Times, “the rights are worth as much as three times that amount,” but Fox won a bargain price for the 2026 rights as a result of a decade-old “decision to stave off litigation between Fox and FIFA.”
The “less aggressive bidding” comment should make one wonder how this will affect future media rights coming up. Remember this… networks don’t like realignment. It creates instability and a constant restructuring of media deals. With less money on the table, I would imagine that the networks are less inclined to push for further realignment unless Notre Dame joins a league – which they won’t.
This doesn’t mean it won’t happen. It could, and there is still a significant chance it will. I just don’t think it’s a guarantee when a couple of years ago it seemed that way.
