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Bidding for the rights to broadcast the NFL's Thursday night games will open soon and the winning bid is expected to land somewhere between $600 million and $1.0 billion per year, a big jump over the $300 million CBS is currently paying the league.
If we estimate the value of the package at $800 million per year, that would mean the total cost to broadcast NFL games in the United States will surpass $7.0 billion in 2016, reaching $7.3 billion. That is nearly three times as much as the networks were paying just ten years ago ($2.6 billion).
The good news for the networks is that all of the deals are locked in until at least 2021. Depending on the length of the Thursday night package - the NFL reportedly wants this package to fall in line with the others in terms of length - there probably won't be another surge for 6-7 years.
Cork Gaines/Business Insider