The NFL is evolving its media strategy to meet the modern fan.

The league’s chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp confirmed on Monday in a column for Sports Illustrated that the NFL is launching its own streaming service, NFL+. 

“NFL+ will provide fans access to live local and national NFL games on mobile devices, live out-of-market preseason games across all devices, live local and national audio for every game, NFL Network shows on demand, NFL Films archives and more — providing football flexibility so fans never have to miss football again,” Rolapp wrote.

• The streaming service will live within the NFL app.
• Previous reports stated that the service could cost $5 per month.
• After its latest round of media deals, NFL games will also appear on streaming services Paramount+, Peacock, ESPN+, and Amazon Prime Video, which holds exclusive rights to “Thursday Night Football.”

Rise of the Multicast

With a plethora of channels and streaming services, the NFL has also embraced secondary broadcasts that run in parallel to a game’s main one and often target a specific segment of the fanbase.

Rolapp mentioned ESPN’s Manningcast, featuring Peyton and Eli Manning, the gaming-focused Amazon Twitch Altcast, kid-focused broadcasts on Paramount’s Nickelodeon, and the analytics-heavy “Between the Lines” on ESPN.

The league is also finding increasing fan engagement on short-form social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat.

The All-Star Break is typically a time for MLB teams to take stock of their situations, and the league is doing the same, starting with one glaring issue: declining attendance.

The league averaged 26,409 tickets sold per game in the first half of the season, down 5% compared to the same period in 2019. 

• Should the trend hold, this year would be the eighth in a row in which MLB attendance dropped, not counting 2020 and 2021, in which attendance was severely limited due to pandemic-related restrictions.
• A 5% decline in attendance would be the largest since the 6.9% dip in 2009.

Compared to last season, when many teams restricted ticket sales, attendance is up 113%.

Manfred Speaks

No team’s attendance has tumbled more since 2019 than that of the Oakland A’s, who drew an average of 20,521 that year and have so far averaged an MLB-low 8,637 this season.

“The condition of the Coliseum is a really serious problem for us,” Manfred said Tuesday, referring to the A’s RingCentral Coliseum. “It is not a major league-quality facility at this point.”

He noted that A’s owner John Fisher must either make a deal with the city of Oakland on a new $12 billion ballpark and surrounding development — or relocate.

Manfred also said that he believes the Tampa Bay Rays may be best suited for Tampa, as opposed to their current home in neighboring St. Petersburg, but there are a number of factors at play.

The Las Vegas Raiders reportedly posted the highest ticket revenue for the 2021 NFL season.

The Raiders, who relocated from Oakland in 2020, benefited from their new $1.9 billion home field, Allegiant Stadium. Fans weren’t allowed to attend games in 2020, leading to high ticket prices in 2021. 

• The team generated $119 million in net gate revenue, excluding luxury suites.
• Despite being top in revenue, the Raiders ranked 25th of 32 NFL teams in tickets sold.
• A caveat to the ranking is Allegiant’s capacity at 65,000 — third-lowest in the NFL. 

Slightly behind the Raiders in ticket revenue for the 2021 season were the San Francisco 49ers. The team generated $117 million in ticket revenue behind a $20 increase on season tickets. 

In addition to the allure of calling Las Vegas home, the Raiders profited from a unique strategy to generate their top-ranking ticket revenue: The team held back blocks of single-game tickets that would later be available with fan-favorable pricing after the secondary market soared. 

Work to Be Done 

At the bottom of the pack in terms of ticket revenue were the Detroit Lions with $51 million in 2021. The Washington Commanders were just ahead of the Lions but ranked last in tickets sold.

Atletico Madrid is getting a new stadium name and training facility.

The La Liga team is ending its naming rights partnership with Wanda and switching over to real estate and construction company Civitas. The team’s stadium name is now Civitas Metropolitano.

• The naming rights deal lasts 10 years. The previous pact with Wanda ended this summer.
• The deal is believed to be of similar annual value to the previous one, $10.2 million per year.
• The club reportedly spoke to a handful of other companies, including Allianz, before settling on Civitas.

Atletico Madrid becomes the second high-profile La Liga team to change its stadium name this year: In March, Spotify inked a reported $285.1 million deal with Barcelona in an expansive deal that included naming rights to Barca’s Camp Nou.

Ciudad Del Deporte

The team’s relationship with Civitas extends beyond the stadium name. The firm is consulting on the team’s new development by the stadium, “Ciudad del Deporte” (“City of Sports”). 

The project includes a sports complex which will have soccer fields, tennis courts, and a 6,000-capacity stadium. There will also be commercial developments on the site.

Atletico Madrid is investing $203.6 million in the project.