Now, it's between CBS and NBC for what's left of the NFL.
In a determined grab for legitimacy, the Fox Television Network outbid CBS by about $100 million a year for rights to televise NFC games beginning next season and the 1997 Super Bowl.Then on Saturday, one day after the Fox bombshell, the NFL announced that it has renewed its deals with ABC for "Monday Night Football" and with ESPN and TNT for Sunday night games.
"We regard this NFC franchise as the crown jewel of all sports programming in the world and will give it our complete commitment," Fox owner Rupert Murdoch said.
That left CBS and NBC bidding for the AFC after the stunning announcement that Fox had won the rights to its first major sports programming.
Although neither Fox nor the NFL announced figures, industry sources said Fox will pay the league about $395 million per year for four years, for a total of $1.58 billion. That's about $130 million a year more than what CBS paid over the past four years for the NFC.
The Associated Press also learned that CBS on Friday made a bid for AFC games, currently carried by NBC. NBC now must match the offer or lose the AFC package it has carried since 1970.
"The CBS-NBC matter currently is before our broadcast committee," NFL vice president Joe Browne said.
The mood at CBS was somber and not optimistic. CBS, however, declined to confirm any aspect of NFL talks. "We have no comment until the negotiations are concluded," CBS Sports spokeswoman Susan Kerr said.
Similarly, NBC Sports spokesman Ed Markey said: "Since we're in the middle of negotiations with the NFL, we're not in a position to comment."
All three networks lost money on the NFL in the past four years, perhaps as much as $300 million combined. CBS was the big loser at about $200 million, with NBC losing about $75 million and ABC the rest. The Monday night package, however, remains a valuable prime time ratings-grabber for ABC.