NFL Opens Bidding For Thursday Night Football

The NFL has told TV networks that it is ready to accept bids for the “Thursday Night Football” package that, once again, will be for just two years, according to SportsBusinessDaily.

The league last week sent formal RFPs to the usual TV partners and outlets -- CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC and Turner -- that outlined the NFL’s plan to sell a one-year deal with a league option for a second year. The league also sent RFPs to several digital companies, like Google, Yahoo, Apple and Amazon, to stream the entire Thursday night schedule on a non-exclusive basis, sources said.

The league’s initial plan would have the digital streams serve as a simulcast of the television production -- with the same ads and in-game production features.

The league expects bidding to start in the low $300M for the television package, with a nominal escalator in year two, sources said. CBS currently is paying around $300M per season for the Thursday night package.

Yahoo paid around $15M for the streaming rights to one game this season, but that was on an exclusive basis. In a recent interview with Re/Code, NFL Exec VP/Media & NFL Network CEO Brian Rolapp said, “We are talking to numerous people -- both traditional media companies and some of the Internet guys -- and I think there will be a heavy digital component [for Thursday]. It is just a question of what the model will be and how we will do it.”