NFL Media Breakdowns: Winners and Losers Heading into the 2024 Season

The NFL season has concluded, and with the discussions surrounding a Kansas City conspiracy behind us, it’s time to reflect on the 2024 season for the league and its media partners. You can compare this to last year’s edition and the previous year’s, which featured numerous winners and losers.

This season experienced lower viewership compared to the record numbers of 2023-24, yet the NFL’s stronghold on television remains unshaken. Audiences still crave football, regardless of whether it’s through traditional broadcast or streaming services. The ability for viewers to connect with the National Football League is crucial for the Shield, Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the league’s owners. Additionally, the 2024-25 season included an election, but it had little effect on the NFL’s overall statistics.

Let’s explore this season’s winners and losers:

AMAZON

Viewers have become accustomed to watching football on Amazon’s Prime Video service. In its third year streaming Thursday Night Football, Amazon achieved its highest viewership yet, averaging 13.20 million viewers in 2024 — an 11 percent increase from last season’s 11.86 million. According to Prime Video, these numbers represent the best in the 19-year history of the TNF package.

Furthermore, Amazon aired its first-ever NFL Wild Card Playoff game in January, attracting an average audience of 22.1 million viewers. During Super Bowl week, it was confirmed that Amazon would retain the Wild Card game for two more seasons. Notably, Sports Business Journal reported that the National Football League extended the contract for the full duration of the NFL media deal, which is set to expire in 2032.

Rival networks have expressed envy, perceiving that the NFL is now favoring Amazon. Although this may sound like sour grapes, Amazon’s ascendance among the NFL’s traditional partners — CBS, ESPN/ABC, Fox, and NBC — certainly provides food for thought for the upcoming media contract negotiations that could occur as early as 2029 if the NFL opts-out.

CBS

For the second consecutive season, CBS’s American Football Conference package attracted more viewers than Fox’s NFC package, averaging 19.2 million viewers compared to Fox’s 18.2 million. In the vital 4:25 p.m. ET timeslot — known for the highest viewership — CBS outperformed Fox with 24.3 million viewers to 23.9 million.

Typically, the NFC package outperforms the AFC package due to the larger media markets in the NFC. However, thanks to the star power of AFC quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow, along with the strategic cross-flexing of select NFC games to CBS, the Tiffany Network has experienced increased viewership over the last two seasons. CBS airing the AFC Championship in the late Sunday slot on Conference Championship Sunday led to record ratings.

CBS aims for a ratings three-peat in 2025.

AL MICHAELS

After missing out on a chance to call one of NBC’s Wild Card games in January 2024, Al Michaels returned to the postseason last month. With an improved Thursday Night Football lineup, the veteran, who has hosted the most NFL primetime games, appeared to enjoy himself again, despite previous critiques of being dull or uninterested.

Al is contemplating returning for the 2025 season, although he has not committed just yet. With Amazon securing rights to a Wild Card playoff game for the foreseeable future, Al understands he will be able to call a postseason game as long as Amazon wants him. He has earned the privilege to choose when he heads out.

NETFLIX

Netflix has carved out a niche by securing a three-year deal to stream NFL games on Christmas Day, starting last December. Initially, there were concerns about the service’s capacity after buffering issues during the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight in November. However, Netflix managed to resolve these issues by Christmas, pulling in 65 million viewers across its two games.

With the NFL audience driving its viewership, Netflix achieved its best viewing month in two years. As the NFL explores new media revenue streams, particularly for a proposed 16-game international package in the future, a potential Netflix bid could be on the horizon.

TOM BRADY

Expectations for Tom Brady entering this season were varied. He famously signed a 10-year, $375 million contract two years ago and then took a year off, leading to mixed reviews about his debut. Although Brady entered the season with impressive credentials, he had never called a game before and was paired with top NFL on Fox play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt.

Brady started off slowly. Former players, including Skip Bayless, criticized his initial performances, deeming them subpar. Despite a sluggish regular season overall, he was named Sports Media Person of the Year by Awful Announcing.

Brady also faced a conflict of interest by being a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, which restricted his ability to attend practices or participate in pre-production meetings — a factor that Fox claims does not hinder his game preparation.

He managed to showcase his best work in the playoffs, but during the Super Bowl, he didn’t quite reach Greg Olsen’s level, who he replaced. Brady’s agent mentioned he intends to return next season and fulfill the remainder of his contract. As is often said, we shall see.

GREG OLSEN

Following two successful seasons, Greg Olsen partnered with Joe Davis on Fox’s “B” team, making a strong first impression. However, aspirations for Olsen to move to another network, possibly NBC as its top analyst for Sunday Night Football, were dashed when the network extended Cris Collinsworth’s contract through the end of the decade.

Although Olsen tasted being an “A” analyst with Kevin Burkhardt for two seasons, he’s now relegated to Fox’s “B” analyst position. Given the presence of top analysts like Tony Romo at CBS, Troy Aikman at ESPN/ABC, Collinsworth, and Brady, it may take a new full-season international package for Olsen to reclaim an “A” position.

Netflix selected Olsen for one of its Christmas Day games, indicating they may utilize him again next season. He stands as the “A” analyst-in-exile, hoping for his shot.

NBC SPORTS/PEACOCK

We could have concluded with Brady and Olsen in this category, had NBC Sports PR not put out one of the most unusual social media messages right after Super Bowl LIX. Yes, Peacock streamed Philadelphia’s season-opener against the Green Bay Packers in Brazil on September 6, 2024.

“Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles on their Second Super Bowl Victory and the First-Ever NFL Championship Win by a Team that Began the Season with a Game Available Nationally Exclusively on a Streaming Service.”

Seriously? This seems more about marketing the company than celebrating the team. It’s peculiar to witness such messaging, yet in today’s social media age, nothing should astound us.

Thus, we present our winners and losers for the 2024-25 season. Once again, the media landscape provided ample insights, and we can anticipate more in the upcoming season starting in September.