NFL exec questions value of ‘Spulu’ venture

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One prominent voice in the sports world is questioning the value of the upcoming ESPN-Fox-Warner Bros. Discovery sports bundle.

NFL Chief Business Officer Brian Rolapp, speaking at the Washington Post’s Futurist Summit, acknowledged that his organization was a bit surprised by the announcement, a point that has been well-documented in the press following the announcement of the joint venture.

“They’re positioning it as the ultimate sports bundle, but it’s missing more than half of NFL football,” Rolapp said, adding that NFL games represent 93 of the top 100 telecasts. 

Rolapp further drove home his point by zeroing in on value, even though an official price for the so-called “Spulu” has not been announced, but could be in the range of $30 to $50 a month.

He noted that, for perhaps $20 more per month, a fan could subscribe to a service such as YouTube TV and “have all of the NFL and then actually have access to Sunday Ticket, which is our out-of-market package on Sunday afternoons.”

YouTube is priced at $72.99 a month after promotions expire and without any add-on bundles such as premium sports. YouTube TV sells a Sunday Ticket add-on for $349 a year more. It also sells Sunday Ticket via YouTube itself for $449 a year without requiring the user to be a YouTube TV subscriber. 

To break that down, assuming “Spulu” ends up being $40 a month, a fan would spend $480 a year (on the high end, a $50 per month price tag would be $600 a year). YouTube would cost $875.88 a year and give viewers access to most NFL games. Adding Sunday Ticket would push the price to $1,224.88 a year.

It’s worth noting that’s more about triple the potential yearly price of mid-range estimates of the WBD-Fox-Disney offering. 

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That said, YouTube TV also unlocks more than 100 other channels in addition to local and national NFL games — essentially giving cord-cutters, which is at least part of the joint venture’s target market — a full pay TV package. 

Subscribing to Sunday Ticket is also optional, and without it YouTube TV’s value looks even better, though it would mean subscribers don’t get access to at least some content that might be available on Spulu that week.

This math also doesn’t account for any other sports that a consumer might be interested in watching. While most of the channels to be included in the upcoming bundle also carry other sports, which vary from season to season, the schedules would be largely fragmented no matter what league or sport a fan wants to follow.

Rolapp isn’t the first person to voice similar sentiments since it’s fairly easy to do the math and reach similar conclusions. 

The joint venture, which is hoping to launch later in 2024, will bundle linear feeds of ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, SECN, ACCN, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS and truTV. It does not yet have a name or pricing.

It is also lacking any content from NBC or CBS-owned networks, which both have substantial sports broadcasting rights in both the NFL and other sports.

All of those networks are available on YouTube TV, making it prime for comparison, and many are available on Disney-owned Hulu + Live TV, which has a lower price.

If Spulu also unlocks non-sports programming on networks such as ABC, Fox, TNT, TBS and truTV, which could represent a slight uptick in value for a subscriber, but it would still be a fairly fragmented lineup of content.

In addition to being part of the streaming venture, ESPN has also announced plans to sell a standalone streaming package of its linear channels in 2025.

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