A New Game Plan

摘要

Here is a fantasy-football challenge: Try to predict which TV networks will grab the three remaining pieces of the National Football League's television package. Last week, the league locked up its Sunday-afternoon deals with Fox, CBS and DirecTV. Now it's peddling its Sunday-and Monday-night games and a new eight-game mini-package for Thursday or Saturday nights. While incumbents ABC Sports and ESPN are the front-runners, NBC and its USA Network cable chan- nel, Turner Sports, Comcast Cable, FX, and the NFL's own fledgling cable network, the NFL Network, are pitching. Football's huge ratings and hard-to-reach male viewers make it an irresistible buy. Fox and CBS committed to a new six-year, $8 billion pact, about a 25% increase over the previous eight-year deal. The agreement gives Fox and CBS two Super Bowls each. One major concession: They give up four games each to a new late-season package the NFL plans to sell to another network.