The two networks are paying increases of about two per cent on their existing deals, which were to expire in 2011, in which CBS pays $622.5 million a year and Fox $712.5 million. The NFL was not due to begin renewal talks until next year.
Fox Sports chairman David Hill said that doing deals earlier was “a very smart move by the NFL”, given the economic downturn. Extending deals now allows broadcasters “a chance to draw breath” and take “a much better view of where the network television business is going” before committing to another long-term contract.
The extension is also reported to be linked to the NFL ending its long-running dispute with cable operator Comcast about carriage of the in-house NFL Network. The two have agreed a deal whereby the NFL Network will now be available on Comcast’s basic tier, which has about 10.8 million subscribers.
The NFL is thought to have dropped its demand for a 70-cent per subscriber fee down to an initial 42 cents per subscriber, although that will grow in future years.