It doesn’t matter whether you watched the Super Bowl or not, if you live in one of the more than 100 million households in this country that have either cable or pay television, you’ve been paying for the Super Bowl and a whole lot more.
And the cost of watching sports on television, in all forms, is going up and you are paying the freight, even if you never watch a game.
A Washington Post story from late last month indicated that Direct TV, the nation’s largest satellite carrier will raise its fees by nearly six percent later this week.
Subscribers who get their television from Time Warner Cable and Cablevision, as well as some other providers, will also pay surcharges, triggered largely by the increased cost of rights fees paid by networks and channels to carry sporting events.
The NFL attracts the lion’s share of rights fees. Fox, NBC, CBS, ESPN and Direct TV will pay the league just under $40 billion to carry games through the 2022-23 season.
But even those breathtaking numbers don’t tell the entire story. CBS, for example, is not only paying the NFL for a package of Sunday afternoon games, a portion of the playoffs and a spot in the Super Bowl rotation, but, for a second year, will pay an additional $300 million for the right to air some games on Thursday night.
By far, the biggest spendthrift in sports television is ESPN. Their annual bill for Monday night games and one playoff contest is nearly $2 billion, which is virtually double that of any of the other NFL broadcast entities.
And the self-professed worldwide leader in sports hasn’t saved its largesse for just professional football.
ESPN is paying college football conferences more than 7-billion over 12 years to carry the so-called new playoff. And ESPN and TNT will pay the NBA more than $2.5 billion annually when its new contract kicks in after next season.
How can ESPN afford to do this, you ask? Well, the answer comes in two parts. First, it receives revenues from commercials it airs during its telecasts, which is pretty standard stuff.
But it’s the second aspect that sets ESPN apart. The cable channel charges carriers a fee per subscriber. According to the Washington Post, that fee is $6 per subscriber, the most of any non-premium channel.
So, even if you don’t watch sports, you’re paying to watch sports, if you have cable or satellite.
The reason for this exorbitance is simple. Nothing draws viewers, and especially male viewers like sports.
The weekly Sunday night NFL game is usually the most watched weekly telecast, the Super Bowl is the most watched telecast of any year and the college playoff game was the most viewed show ever on any cable network.
Hope that guacamole and chips tasted good going down Sunday. You sure paid a lot for it and next year’s will cost even more.