The NFL is taking a wait-and-see approach to the role that technology and streaming companies will play in future rights negotiations.
NFL chief business and media officer Brian Rolapp believes the run-up to 2022 – when current broadcast rights end – is an “inflection point” that could see major changes.
Yet while the league has experimented with streaming services such as Amazon and Twitter, it remains committed to gaining the largest audience possible for its broadcasts.
“Our entire model is about reach. Traditionally, broadcast television was the best way to achieve that,” Rolapp said during a NFL media event in New York, before adding: “But these digital companies are working hard on reach.”
Rolapp said the league would defer to the TV networks on how the national anthem will be broadcast in the coming season. “It’s their decision about what they do or don’t do,” he said. “There’s this perception that [the anthem is] always covered, but it’s actually not.”
Barring a dramatic last-minute breakthrough, there will not be a resolution to the national anthem policy between the NFL and NFL Players Association ahead of the new season, the Washington Post reports.