NFL Agrees To Nine-Year Broadcast Rights Extension With CBS, FOX & NBC

The NFL agreed to nine-year extensions of their broadcast deals with CBS, FOX and NBC on Wednesday at the league owners meeting. The deal takes effect following the 2013 season and runs through 2022. Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the league, but the Sports Business Journal reports that all three networks will each pay around a billion dollars per year under the agreements.

FOX will still have the NFC on Sunday afternoons, and CBS will continue broadcasting the AFC. However, the extension includes several notable changes to the current deal. Starting in 2012, the Thanksgiving Day prime time game will be broadcast on NBC rather than the NFL Network. Flexible scheduling will be expanded starting in 2014, allowing CBS and FOX to swap out regional games in order to reach a wider audience. Essentially, that means those two networks can switch their AFC/NFC allegiances in the name of flexible scheduling.