NFL GAME CHANGER
Pats big says future of league TV is ‘over the top’
CANNES, France — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said Friday the future of NFL broadcasts is in “over the top” deals like the livestreaming agreement the NFL signed with Amazon this spring.
In April, Amazon paid $50 million for the non-exclusive rights to NFL games starting this season, nudging aside Twitter, which had paid $10 million to stream Thursday night NFL games last season. Amazon will charge advertisers $2.8 million for an “OTT” ad package around its 10 Thursday night games, Reuters reported on Thursday.
“There has been a dramatic shift,” Kraft said at the Cannes Lions marketing festival, speaking as part of an interview with WPP Group CEO Martin Sorrell. “This year we’re with Amazon and for us the future is OTT.”
Amazon will air the games to members of its $99-a-year subscription service, Amazon Prime Video.
“We’ll be very interested to see how Amazon goes as it’s behind the paywall,” Kraft added. “The thing we have to be careful of is millennials. They don’t watch TV, they don’t have TVs or subscribe to cable. So we have to bring that audience in. Partly it’s done through fantasy games and linking to that. Over-the-top is a great opportunity.”
Kraft said he would also like to see the NFL expand internationally, a goal that the league has yet to fully realize, he noted.
“Now we play four games a year in London and sell tickets to 80,000 people, and we’re go- ing to have a team in London,” Kraft said. “We’re playing the Raiders in Mexico and have plans to play in Germany, Canada and Brazil and China. I don’t know — why not France?”
Kraft also was asked about how he feels now about “Deflategate,” the controversy in which Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was accused of deliberately underinflating footballs during the 2014-2015 playoff season to make them easier to grip.
“I don’t hold grudges, but I never forget,” Kraft responded. “Sometimes people mess up when they’re doing their jobs, but at most organizations people make bad decisions. I’m about the present and the future.”
The NFL suspended Brady for four games in response to the allegations and fined the Patriots $1 million while taking away two draft picks.
“We were unfairly punished, but we wound up winning the Super Bowl,” Kraft said.
Sorrell also asked about Kraft’s thoughts on FBI director James Comey’s firing. Kraft dodged on that one, but had some words of support for his friend President Trump’s economic plan for the US.
“His economic plan if executed well, will be excellent for America and the Western world,” Kraft said. “We have the highest corporate tax rate in the world. Two to five trillion dollars is parked outside of America. He has a plan to bring that money back and put it into manufacturing jobs. It could be a great uplift for the economy.”
Kraft recalled a time when money was tight in his home and even a season ticket was a luxury.
“One of my big concerns is people like ourselves have done well, but working class people have not. It behooves us to get government working together to take care of them and get them the proper health care.”