Roger Goodell didn’t mince words when talking about the efforts of pro football’s dedicated network.
When appearing on the stand Monday as part of the ongoing “NFL Sunday Ticket” trial, Goodell not-so-subliminally judged NFL Network’s production quality when airing “Thursday Night Football.”
“I had my own opinion that our production was below standards that the networks (Fox and CBS) had set,” Goodell said. “We had not met that standard.”
NFL Network carried “TNF” exclusively from its inception in November 2006 until CBS joined the fray in 2014.
The last such game to air on the network came in 2021.
The NFL pivoted the weeknight game to Amazon’s Prime Video beginning in 2023.
Last season, the league experienced a growth in viewership by 24% relative to its inaugural year broadcasting on Prime Video.
Goodell’s larger headache pertains to the antitrust suit filed against “Sunday Ticket,” the YouTube TV platform through which football fans can watch any game not televised in their local markets.
Legal proceedings began on June 5 and originated from the filing of a class action suit filed in 2015.
Plaintiffs asserted that Goodell and the NFL intentionally paired with only DirecTV in order to limit viewing opportunities as well as inflate subscription prices.
Goodell called “Sunday Ticket” a “premium product” and touted the NFL as “very pro-consumer.”
The commissioner’s barbs toward NFL Network weren’t the only tangential comments from the trial to make waves.
When discussing the hypothetical of NFL teams separately negotiating TV deals — as opposed to the collectively bargained model now in place — Cowboys owner Jerry Jones threw the smaller market Cincinnati Bengals under the bus.
“I am convinced I would make a lot more money than the Bengals,” Jones said. “I’m completely against each team doing TV deals. It is flawed.”
Since sitting atop the NFL’s pantheon in August 2006, Goodell has overseen a skyrocketing of pro football and its branding, both domestically and internationally.
One of the NFL’s hallmarks has been finding ways to better market itself and remain relevant, even during its dullest periods of the offseason.
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