Many Afffiliates Annoyed with ABC's Plans for Super Bowl

ABC affiliates are angered by Disney’s plan to air this year’s Super Bowl on Disney+, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPNU in addition to ABC and ESPN, a move that could reduce related ad revenue by up to 35%, according to a station group CEO speaking anonymously.

Disney holds the rights under its 2021 NFL deal; ABC last broadcast the game in 2006.

The Super Bowl is a major revenue driver for ABC affiliates. While Disney owns some stations, most belong to groups such as Sinclair, Nexstar and Tegna. Roughly 3% of a typical local affiliate’s annual advertising revenue comes from the game when it airs on the station, a figure that can be substantially higher for large-market owned-and-operated outlets, which have generated about $10 million in Super Bowl advertising revenue, according to people familiar with the matter.

National Super Bowl advertising is highly lucrative. Fox reported more than $800 million in gross revenue across platforms last year. A standard broadcast features roughly 85 30-second spots; at an average of $8 million each, that equates to about $680 million for the primary network alone. Most campaigns are national, though some brands buy only major markets, leaving smaller markets to sell local inventory. Super Bowl LX drew 125.6 million viewers—far above a typical primetime audience of around 8 million—driving correspondingly higher rates.

Affiliates’ frustration is tied to longstanding reverse retransmission fees. Stations pay Disney (and other network owners) for the right to carry network programming. Disney spends billions on live sports rights and seeks affiliate contributions; affiliates in turn negotiate retransmission fees with pay-TV providers. For decades, Super Bowl exclusivity on broadcast television was a central justification for those payments. While networks have previously offered the game on both broadcast and streaming, Disney’s broader distribution this year further erodes that exclusivity.

The telecast is an ESPN production featuring the Monday Night Football announcing team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, which is expected to draw significant cable viewership. Disney is also placing the game on Disney+, a service not typically focused on sports. Unlike prior streaming efforts by Peacock, Tubi and Paramount+—which used geofenced dynamic advertising insertion so local affiliates could sell commercials to streaming audiences—Disney+ does not support that capability for this broadcast.