The $2 Billion Understanding

TV signs the N.F.L. to a spectacular contract

It is the fattest TV deal in history. Last week National Football League Commissioner Pete Rozelle presented to the annual meeting of owners a $2 billion television contract that goes beyond spectacular almost all the way to embarrassing. For the next five years, each of the 28 teams in the league will be compensated by ABC, NBC and CBS at an average of $14.2 million per season--up from about $5.8 million.

The new contract keeps cable television and other pay-TV systems away from any N.F.L. action for another five years. NBC and CBS have been raised from two preseason games to three. ABC gets an extra prime-time evening game and in 1985 joins in the Super Bowl network rotation. Last, but not peanuts, the networks have permission to sell another minute of advertising in all 243 games, making 24 commercial minutes per broadcast, at regular season rates estimated as high as $300,000.

Large as the price was, the networks were as delighted about the outcome as were N.F.L. owners. The reason is simple: men between 18 and 49, the most desirable but hard-to-reach ad target. Last year 20 million of these men, in 45% of all homes with TV, tuned in the N.F.L., according to a Simmons Market Research study. That is six times as many as watch even high-rated series like Dallas. College football, with half the male total, is the N.F.L.'s nearest TV competitor. And advertisers will pay almost anything to get in on this football pool. One TV industry expert estimates that $25 million of CBS Broadcast's $300 million profit last year came from pro football.

For fans who may have thought that the big TV deal would lead to a break at the turnstiles, there is further financial news. Already, twelve teams--Dallas, Chicago, Green Bay, Minnesota, New Orleans, St. Louis, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Denver, Kansas City, the New York Giants and the Jets--have announced that they are raising ticket prices from an average of $10.50 to as much as $15. In still another effort to add to its considerable success, the N.F.L. is now lobbying in Congress for exemption from the antitrust laws. This would open the way to further expansion. It would also tighten the league's hold over such maverick owners as Al Davis, who is suing the N.F.L. for blocking his plan to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles.

The N.F.L. picture tube would seem to be totally bright. Even under the previous four-year deal, a club could hardly avoid making money. The owners of the Denver Broncos, for example, paid $30 million for the team in 1981; the new TV payments alone will more than cover the cost in three years. According to Ed Garvey, chief of the Players Association: "Under the current labor structure, a team could conceivably make a $4 million or $5 million profit next year without selling one ticket."

It does not take a genius, however, to infer that Garvey envisions a new labor structure. Dissatisfied with the average player's salary of $90,000 (far less than the average in baseball and basketball), the union is seeking a deal that would be unique in sport. Under Garvey's plan--endorsed by all but a handful of the 500 attending the Players Association convention in Albuquerque last week--the union would take a fixed percentage (a proposed 55%) of the N.F.L. 's annual gross revenue. The money would then be distributed to players for the common good according to a scale based on such factors as years of service, numbers of downs played and participation in playoffs and pro bowls. Some of the highest-paid players, who are more interested in issues like free agency, have reacted coolly. Pittsburgh Steelers Wide Receiver Lynn Swann calls the plan "a socialistic idea."

Whatever the label, the desire to share the wealth appears firmly set, and there is much talk of a strike this summer. The present contract runs out in July, and even players who do not favor the fixed percentage proposal are saying they will support a walkout. Naturally, the owners too are talking tough. The union proposal, says N.F.L. Negotiator Jack Donlan, is "alien to American business" and "would be tantamount to getting control" of the league. Donlan threatens a possible lockout if no agreement is reached and hints at fielding teams of nonunion rookies and free agents. Should that happen, the rich new TV deal would start with some ironically low-grade football.

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