Mike Florio ,
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Netflix has become part of the NFL broadcast landscape, on one day per year. Will Netflix parlay its Christmas games into a full-blown package?
Via Dade Hayes of Deadline.com, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said during an appearance at the Bloomberg Screentime conference that the company is unlikely to make a bid for the next set of broadcast rights, which are expected to become available as of 2030.
“ It doesn’t really fit with our strategy ,” Peters said. “We want to be disciplined.”
Of course, part of that discipline could be to create the impression that Netflix is out, lulling the existing rights holders into offering too little when negotiations with the NFL on an extension begin, as soon as next year . Then, Netflix could swoop in and swipe a package.
Earlier this year, Netflix chief content officer Bela Bejaria mused about the possibility of landing one of the Sunday afternoon packages currently broadcast by CBS and Fox. Later, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that the streamer wants more games that it can “ eventize .”
Nothing any Netflix executive says is binding in what is a very high-stakes game of poker. Plans change. Strategies change. Strategies can include a plan to change plans.
The latest comment should not be interpreted as Netflix abandoning its NFL ambitions. While, on the surface, Netflix is potentially sending the message that it doesn’t intend to be a pawn in the broader game of jacking up the next wave of rights fees, Netflix potentially is hoping to give NBC, CBS, Fox, Disney, Amazon, and/or YouTube a false sense of security.
Of course, it’s also possible that the NFL is pivoting away from an approach that has been characterized by creating a competition among the networks, with one or more eventually holding the bag. The new way of doing business could involve grabbing every bag that’s available. Already, the league has carved out CBS/Fox games for Christmas Day placement on Netflix and, for the past two years, the first Friday of the regular season.
This could result in a menu of broadcast rights that includes both the usual packages and special events that would align with Netflix’s possible objectives — for example, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, the first game of the regular season, the last game of the regular season.
Regardless, don’t bet on Netflix getting out of the NFL business so soon after getting into it. And don’t think the mixed messages the company has sent over the past year aren’t part of some broader effort to create just enough confusion to allow it to make its move, once it’s ready to do so.
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