NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at the CNBC CEO Council in Arizona on May 19, 2025.
Chris Coduto | CNBC
The NFL and supreme skydanceRenewal talks about a deal to keep the league's Sunday games on CBS are beginning to take shape, CNBC has learned.
NFL and CBS executives are negotiating a price increase, with a bid-ask spread of about 50% or 60%, according to two people familiar with the negotiations, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. CBS currently pays about $2.1 billion a year, on average, for its Sunday afternoon games, CNBC previously reported. A 50% increase would mean CBS would pay more than $3 billion in its next deal.
In exchange for the increased revenue, the NFL would remove the opt-out clause after the 2029-30 season that it included in its original deal with Paramount, part of an 11-year deal that runs through the end of the 2033-34 season. That clause would have given the league a chance to pull out early.
CBS would begin paying the new rate next season for the next eight years for the same game package.
Paramount's adjusted guidance for its 2026 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is $3.6 billion. If Paramount's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery If approved by regulators, the combined company would have a projected adjusted EBITDA of $18 billion, Paramount Chief Financial Officer Dennis Cinelli told investors this month.
“We have a phenomenal relationship with the NFL and we anticipate that will continue for the foreseeable future,” Paramount CEO David Ellison told CNBC earlier this month. “They are one of our most important partners, and we plan on them continuing to be one of our most important partners, as we just had a historic season in partnership with them. And, you know, with negotiations going on, we're not really in a position where we can comment. I promise we'll share something as soon as we have something to say.”
Comcastfrom NBCUniversal, Amazon main video and Fox They are also subject to the 2029-30 opt-out clause in their agreements. disneyESPN and ABC have until 2031.
Referee Shawn Smith speaks with players from the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks before the 2026 Super Bowl draw, at Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California, on February 8.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
The league has chosen to begin negotiating with Paramount's CBS before any of its other media partners because a change of control provision, stemming from Skydance Media's acquisition of Paramount Global, allows the NFL to break its deal by 2027.
The NFL could negotiate with Fox after CBS because the terms of the deal would have to be similar: Both companies have Sunday afternoon packages, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
Fox currently pays slightly more than CBS for its gaming package: about $2.2 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. Fox “will certainly seek [be] continue that mutually beneficial relationship going forward” with the NFL, but has not yet had any “material conversations” about a renewal, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said earlier this month at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference.
The NFL also has not entered into major talks with Amazon, NBC or Disney, according to people familiar with the matter. It's unclear if the league would look to move forward with a similar 50% increase for those three packages.
Some NBC and Disney executives believe the relative strengths of their packages (Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football) have waned as the NFL has given Amazon better games for its Thursday Night Football in recent years, according to people familiar with the matter.
ESPN already pays $2.7 billion for Monday Night Football. A 50% increase would mean ESPN would pay more than $4 billion for that package, a figure Disney would likely object to, according to people familiar with the matter.
Later implications
The timing and scope of the NFL's new deals could have a significant effect on the value of other sports rights in the coming years.
The NHL currently has television deals with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, which expire after the 2028 season. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has had several conversations about renewing a deal ahead of the NFL, according to two people familiar with the matter. Still, he'll likely have to wait until Paramount's deal to acquire WBD closes before signing a new deal.
“As with an ongoing relationship, you're always talking about the future and, from our point of view, it's not in the context of the NFL,” NHL spokesman Jon Weinstein said.
Murdoch said last month that Fox would have to “rebalance” its sports portfolio once it pays the NFL.
versatile CEO Mark Lazarus said earlier this month that he is “prepared for the sports landscape to be changing,” given the enormous cost of the NFL. That could allow Versant, owner of USA Network and other cable channels, to buy rights to sports like the NHL or MLB “that we otherwise wouldn't have gotten involved in,” he said.
Disclosure: Versant is the parent company of CNBC.
