Thursday Night Football has a new home after the NFL and FOX Sports announced that the franchise would shift from CBS/NBC to FOX, courtesy of a five-year deal valued at $3.3 billion. The change will begin next season and hand FOX with 11 games between weeks 4-15, excluding Thanksgiving night. Contests will be simulcast on NFL Network and distributed in Spanish on FOX Deportes. In addition, NFL Network will exclusively televise seven games next season, with FOX producing the full slate of 18 games. The deal also allows FOX Sports and the NFL to each expand its digital rights, enabling the network to distribute both TNF as well as its Sunday games to FOX subscribers over platforms including mobile phones for the first time.
“This agreement is the culmination of over 10 years of strategic growth around Thursday Night Football, a period during which this property has grown from a handful of late season games on NFL Network to a full season of games and one of the most popular shows on broadcast television with additional distribution via cable and digital channels,” said NFL Commissioner Goodell. “As one of the leaders in sports television and a recognized innovator of NFL game broadcasts for many years, we’re excited to be extending our partnership with FOX Sports, one of our most trusted and valued partners, to include Thursday Night Football.”