Fox Gets NFL’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ in 5-Year Deal Beginning With 2018 Season
Fox is getting the NFL’s Thursday Night Football package for the next five years. Will they get better games or get rid of those hideous color rush uniforms? That remains to be seen.
Fox’s TNF deal begins with the 2018 season and includes 11 games between Weeks 4-15 (Thanksgiving not included) to be broadcast on Fox, simulcast on NFL Network and distributed in Spanish on Fox Deportes.
NFL Network will exclusively air seven TNF games per season, with Fox Sports producing the telecasts. Sports Business Journal‘s John Ourand reports that it’s unlikely Fox’s lead NFL broadcast team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will call the TNF games in addition to their Sunday afternoon duties. Ourand also reports that the NFL continues to look for a partner on a TNF digital streaming package.
NBC and CBS shared TNF broadcast rights with NFL Network and digital partner Amazon for the 2017 season.
According to the NFL, “Thursday Night Football is a top-5 show in all of television and the No. 2 show in primetime. In securing the Thursday Night Football package, FOX now has 3 of the 5 most-watched shows in all of television (America’s Game of the Week; NFL Sunday singleheader; Thursday Night Football).”
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