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The real battleground with respect to TV viewing rights is taking place here:
ESPN receives $6.61 per subscriber per month from pay-TV providers, according to SNL Kagan, by far the most among cable channels and nearly $5 more than the $1.65 charged by the next most in-demand channel, TNT.
Verizon's attempt to unbundle ESPN has not made the mouse happy.
HydroCabron
2015 Apr 28, 1:59pm
ESPN receives $6.61 per subscriber per month from pay-TV providers
Since ESPN is bundled with probably 100% of all non-basic cable and satellite packages offered nationwide, this amounts to a $6.61 per month rent charged to about 100 million households. In total, ESPN affiliate fees generate $6.1 billion a quarter for Team Rodent. It is a rent seeker's wet dream.
I once gave a Comcast rep the giggles by asking if I could dump ESPN while keeping some other channels, because I fucking hate sports.
The nfl, as a sport, has become almost as unwatchable as the NBA
They ought be praying to the draftkings gods for keeping people interested. 3.5 hours long, with at most, 20 minutes of action. Hell, the 30 minute long slot for nfl shorts, where they replay every single play from the game, can never fill the whole 30 min time slot
If it werent a good excuse to escape with the fellas on sundays, and shitty gamblers wet dream, it probably would have died long ago
Compare to NHL playoffs, which is nonstop action, they could ban the NFL for all i care
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-28/nfl-will-end-its-tax-exempt-status-goodell-tells-team-owners
The National Football League's central office will become a taxable entity, ending its tax-exempt status in a move with minimal financial effect and significant symbolic value.
Commissioner Roger Goodell informed team owners and members of the U.S. Congress of the decision in letters dated Tuesday, saying he was eliminating a “distraction.”
“Every dollar of income generated through television rights fees, licensing agreements, sponsorships, ticket sales, and other means is earned by the 32 clubs and is taxable there,” Goodell wrote. “This will remain the case even when the league office and Management Council file returns as taxable entities, and the change in filing status will make no material difference to our business.”
The league's decision pre-empts a move by lawmakers to revoke the tax break, which has gained some momentum in recent years though not enough to pass either the House or the Senate. It removes a point of leverage for Congress in its continuing inquiries into the league's handling of concussions and domestic violence.
For the NFL, the costs of losing the tax break are minimal, an estimated $109 million over the next decade. There are benefits, too, including the end of federal disclosure requirements that put Goodell's salary and some other league information in the public domain.
Tax Returns
The U.S. requires that non-profit groups file annual federal tax returns and make portions of them public. Goodell received $35 million in salary and bonuses in 2013.
The NFL is the biggest sports league in the U.S. with a record $10 billion in revenue in 2013, up from $7 billion when Goodell took over as commissioner in 2006. Much of that revenue goes to the teams, which face taxation.
According to Goodell's letter, the league has been studying its tax status for more than a year and the full ownership approved the decision in March.
“The big question is: Why now?” said Andrew Brandt, former vice president of the Green Bay Packers. Brandt is an NFL business analyst at ESPN television and director of the Jeffrey S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. “It seems like Congress has been making a big deal out of it. Without this status there's no requirement to disclose, which helps in the PR battle.”
‘Real Revenue'
“My understanding from having worked in the league is that the status is based on the league office being a pass-through and that the real revenue comes into the clubs,” Brandt said.
The NFL's move mirrors one made by Major League Baseball in 2007. The National Basketball Association never was tax exempt. The National Hockey League is now the only major professional sports league in North America with the status.
The Internal Revenue Code specifically provides a tax exemption to “professional football leagues” under section 501(c)(6), the same portion of the law used by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The only way to change that would be an act of Congress or a decision by a league to forgo the tax exemption.
“The NFL doesn't need this public perception headache,” said Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. “With little effect on its bottom line, it was an appropriate move.”