The NAACP will probably seek some answers about the FOX agreement.
In the pre-COVID-19 world, there would have been champagne corks popping, and slaps on the back at the Park Avenue offices of the National Football League. But the festive atmosphere of getting about $110 billion worth of TV contracts through 2033 has been tempered somewhat. Yet there are plenty of smiles to go around as the NFL has new agreements with FOX, Comcast-NBC, Disney ESPN-ABC, CBS and relatively new partner for Thursday night football Jeff Bezos’s Amazon. The Thursday night package will be available on Amazon Prime and in the home markets of the two teams competing on a particular Thursday night. But not everyone is happy with the NFL’s new TV deals, there are some who don’t subscribe to Amazon Prime who will have to choose between missing a game or getting the subscription service. Then there is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP did not want to see the NFL partner with Rupert Murdoch’s FOX over-the-air TV division.
On March 9th, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell with a demand. The NFL should cancel its partnership with Fox, Johnson called FOX a hateful, divisive and racist organization. In the letter, Johnson wrote, “it is immensely perturbing that the NFL would consider extending its relationship with FOX, especially after the January 6th insurrection on our Capitol. The NFL should not be used as a bargaining tool to help fund FOX News’ racist and dangerous programming. FOX News has gone far and beyond to disinform its viewers, inciting hate, bigotry, and ultimately threatening American democracy. We have grave concerns with the NFL’s contract renewal with FOX, and we look forward to having a serious conversation.” The NFL is always all about money and probably doesn’t care about Johnson’s concerns. Money talks.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
