Sunday night NFL may be Fox-bound

0 Comments | USA TODAY, April, 2005 | by Rudy Martzke

If Monday Night Football shifts from ABC to ESPN, as expected, television consultants Neal Pilson and Kevin O'Malley doubt CBS or NBC will at least share a Sunday night NFL package with Fox starting in 2006.

"I'm skeptical that CBS or NBC would step up to the numbers the NFL wants," about $600 million a year, Pilson said Thursday. "Fox is the wild card. It dances to a different beat, but the league would rather not put three packages in the hands of (Fox Sports chairman) David Hill ."

Absent similar financial interest by CBS and NBC, or even ABC, Fox would appear to be in line to get the full Sunday night package. Add that to Fox's new deal for the NFC ($712.5 million a year) and the $700 million annual contract with DirecTV, owned by Fox parent News Corp., and...