NFL 2021: All the teams, sponsors and broadcasters

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After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl LV, the sight of Tom Brady hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy for a seventh time was a familiar ending to a season which had been anything but.

Before the 2020 NFL season even started, 67 players chose to opt out of playing due to health concerns as the US continued to grapple with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The absence of a preseason, coupled with a delayed training camp, cast further doubt on the already uncertain prospect of the 2020 season going ahead as normal. And yet, remarkably, despite rising coronavirus cases across the US at the peak of the second wave, only five of 256 regular season games were postponed, with ten rescheduled to accommodate the changes.

However, the season was not without its hiccups. There were a number of outbreaks within teams, the first of those being the Tennessee Titans, whose week four game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was postponed. In week 12, the highly anticipated divisional game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers was delayed three times due to an even bigger outbreak, which placed 23 players on the reserve/Covid-19 list, including star quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Titans and the Ravens were among several teams to be handed Covid-related fines by the NFL, alongside the New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders and New Orleans Saints.

Following the unprecedented events of 2020, there has at last been a sense of things returning to normal for the NFL throughout the offseason. At the 2021 NFL Draft in Cleveland back in April, for example, first-round picks were once again able to attend the ceremony and greet league commissioner Roger Goodell on stage, with 160,000 fans attending over the three days.

The New England Patriots selected quarterback Mac Jones 15th overall in this year’s NFL draft in Cleveland

Still, though, one pressing concern for the NFL over the offseason has been the vaccination of players, coaches and staff before the new campaign begins. The league has rolled out updated Covid-19 protocols that offer clear incentives for players to get vaccinated, while the NFL’s general counsel Lawrence Ferazani has said that the organisation would welcome a vaccine mandate for its athletes. In any case, those individuals who have received their jabs will be able to enjoy several liberties this season, but the league has introduced stringent testing and containment measures for others who refuse to take the vaccine.

Failure to comply to the new rules could have damaging consequences on NFL teams this season. If an unvaccinated player refuses to wear a mask, breaks social distancing rules, or attends a large gathering of over 15 people without masks, the league will sanction fines starting at US$14,650. Teams will also forfeit games if an outbreak among its unvaccinated players causes the cancellation of a fixture.

A message from Commissioner Goodell ahead of the 2021 season. ❤️ #WeRunAsOne pic.twitter.com/cpJnBTUuXH

— NFL (@NFL) September 9, 2021

On a more positive note, all 32 franchises have been given the go-ahead to have full stadiums during the upcoming season, which will be well received after the financial impact of playing behind closed doors or in front of limited crowds in 2020. Indeed, the NFL suffered a 20 per cent drop in revenue last year, according to Forbes annual list of the most valuable NFL teams, which also estimates that teams’ average operating income fell to US$7.1 million last year, down from US$109 million in 2019.

Despite the financial consequences of the pandemic, it would appear that NFL teams haven’t become any less valuable, with Forbes calculating that the average franchise valuation has actually increased by 14 per cent over the last year to US$3.48 billion – the biggest gain in five years. NFL teams will also be buoyed by the league’s newly signed domestic media rights deals with CBS, ESPN/ABC, Fox, NBC and Amazon, which are reportedly set to bring in more than US$100 billion over 11 seasons from 2023.

With those negotiations now complete, and a pandemic-disrupted season now in the past, the NFL will be hoping that this year will be all about the football. For the first time ever, the league will have a 17-game season in 2021, a move which Goodell has hailed as “a monumental moment in NFL history”.

“The CBA with the players and the recently completed media agreements provide the foundation for us to enhance the quality of the NFL experience for our fans,” Goodell said back in March. “And one of the benefits of each team playing 17 regular season games is the ability for us to continue to grow our game around the world.”

CBS (US$1 billion a year): Deal includes AFC package, Thanksgiving day game and most AFC playoff fixtures

Fox (US$1.1 billion a year): Deal includes NFC package, Thanksgiving day game and most NFC playoff fixtures. Also pays a reported US$660 million a year to show 11 Thursday night games

NBC (US$950 million a year): Deal includes Sunday night primetime package and season kickoff game

ESPN (US$1.75 billion a year): Deal includes Monday night package and one wildcard playoff game

Amazon/Twitch (reportedly worth ‘significantly higher’ than original US$65 million a year contract): Deal includes streaming rights to 11 Thursday night games and one Saturday regular season game. Amazon also airs TNF globally

NFL Network: Airs Thursday night games and at least one Saturday game

AT&T/DirecTV (US$1.5 billion per year): Deal includes the Sunday Ticket out-of-market regular season package

US (Spanish language)

Fox Deportes: NFC package

NBC Universo: SNF package

ESPN Deportes: MNF package

Australia

ESPN (pay-TV), Seven/7mate (free-to-air)

Belgium

Eleven Sports

Brazil

ESPN Brasil

Bulgaria

Max Sport

Canada

TSN, CTV, DAZN (distributes NFL Game Pass)

China

Tencent

France

BeIN Sports

Germany, Switzerland

DAZN (pay-TV), ProSieben (FTA)

Italy

DAZN

India

FanCode

Japan

Nippon TV, NHK (both FTA), DAZN (pay-TV)

Latin America

ESPN: MNF, SNF, NFL playoffs, NFL RedZone

Fox: Sunday afternoon games, TNF, NFL playoffs

Mexico

Televisa, TV Azteca: overall linear package

Sky Mexico: Sunday Ticket

MENA

BeIN Sports

New Zealand

Sky Sport, ESPN, Spark Sport (pay-TV)

Portugal

Eleven Sports

Spain

Movistar+

UK

Sky Sports (pay-TV, main package, includes Super Bowl)

BBC (FTA, includes UK games, highlights and Super Bowl)

How SponsorPulse measures engagement: The percentage of people who have engaged with the property at least once in the past 12 months. Types of engagement include watching the property on TV or online, following it socially or in the news, buying or wearing merchandise, paying fantasy and/or betting on it or recommending it to others.

Align – Teeth aligners and 3D intraoral scanners

Amazon Web Services – Cloud infrastructure, cloud platform, machine learning and artificial intelligence (non-exclusive)

Anheuser-Busch –  Alcoholic beverages

Barclaycard – Co-branded NFL and team affinity credit cards

Bose – Home audio, headsets/headphones

Bridgestone – Automotive tyres

Caesars Entertainment – Sports betting (non-exclusive), casino (exclusive), free-to-play (non-exclusive)

Campbell Soup Company – Soup

Castrol – Motor oil

Cigna – Health insurance

Cisco – Physical network infrastructure (exclusive), network security (exclusive), digital signage solutions (exclusive), security hardware for enterprises (non-exclusive)

Diageo – Distilled spirits, read-to-drink distilled spirits-based cocktails

Dairy Management Inc. – Dairy products

DraftKings – Sports betting (non-exclusive), daily fantasy (exclusive), free-to-play (non-exclusive)

Extreme Networks – WiFi analytics and network solutions

FanDuel – Sports betting (non-exclusive), free-to-play (non-exclusive)

FedEx – Package delivery services and office supply retailer

Ford – Truck

Hyperice – Recovery technology

Intel –  Volumetric image/video technology

Intuit – Financial and accounting software, tax preparation

Lowe’s – Home improvement retail

Marriott – Hotels

Mars Snackfood – Chocolate and non-chocolate candy products

Microsoft – Tablets, laptops and operating systems, collaboration software

Nationwide – Auto, home and life insurance (co-exclusive with USAA)

Oakley – Helmet visors, non-prescription sunglasses, eye glass frames, goggles

Procter & Gamble – Over the counter grooming, fabric/air care, household needs, OTC remedies

Pepsi – Beverage

Frito-Lay – Salted snacks/popcorn/peanuts/peanut products/salsa/dips

Gatorade – Sports nutrition

Pizza Hut – Pizza carry-out/delivery/frozen

Uber Eats – On-demand food delivery

Rocket Mortgage – Mortgage

Sleep Number – Mattresses, sleep tracking, bedding, sleep and wellness

Subway – Quick service restaurant

USAA – Auto, home and life insurance (co-exclusive with Nationwide), military appreciation and retail banking (co-exclusive with Visa)

Verizon – Wireless, local and long distance telecommunications services (exclusive), smart communities services and digital media video services (non-exclusive)

Visa – Payment systems services, retail banking (co-exclusive with USAA)

Truist – Retail Bank via Visa

IT’S GAME WEEK!