ABC Eyes 10 Monday Night Football Games as NFL Rolls Back Simulcasts
In advance of the NFL’s annual schedule drop, Disney’s ad sales team is gearing up for another overstuffed season of Monday Night Football. And while a complete picture of the NFL’s primetime slate won’t be available until later this week-if precedent is anything to go by, the reveal likely will take place on Thursday evening-Rita Ferro believes that as many as 10 MNF games will air on the ABC broadcast network.
During a phone interview with Sportico last week, the president of Disney’s advertising sales unit said that while the 2024-25 MNF roster won’t be as broadcast-heavy as it was a year ago-as a hedge against the writers’ strike that sidelined the fall TV season, ABC got a piece of all but three of the 22 scheduled NFL games-the Alphabet network would still be very much in the mix come September. ABC is expected to simulcast six or seven MNF games, while airing three exclusive outings.
“It’s not 100% locked, but we do know that we have a minimum number of games that will be simulcast,” Ferro said. “So, is the schedule going to look exactly like last year? I’m not sure yet, but I don’t think so. But we will definitely have some simulcasts and exclusives, as we have had historically, because that’s a big piece of our overall mix, in terms of how we cover the games.”
Last year’s emergency measures helped boost MNF ratings by a staggering 29%, as ESPN and ABC combined for an average draw of 17.3 million viewers per game, up from 13.4 million in the previous season. While the NFL’s decision to allow ABC to simulcast 12 additional MNF games wasn’t handed down until Sept. 18, or well after 90% of the in-game inventory had already been sold off in the spring/summer upfront market, Disney’s sales crew still managed to rake in nearly $300 million in incremental revenue.
While ABC won’t be as big of a factor in the MNF playbook this fall, Ferro said Disney is looking to build on last year’s steroidal deliveries. “We have planned for the growth and expansion of the audience across our NFL games, across all of our platforms,” Ferro said. “That’s ‘growth’ in terms of our expectations from an audience perspective, as well as gains made across the total portfolio.”
Aside from the obvious benefits of bringing the over-the-air network into the mix on select Monday nights-ABC’s signals reach some 82.5 million U.S. TV households across its affiliate footprint, an advantage of approximately 12.3 million homes compared to Disney’s cable flagship-MNF advertisers buying across the platforms enjoy an advantage that transcends mere amplification of their impressions. Games simulcasted on ABC generally reach an older, more female-skewing audience, whereas ESPN’s base is younger and leans more in the direction of the XY set. Disney’s streaming platforms, meanwhile, serve up the company’s most demographically desirable throng of viewers, reaching fans who are often a good 25 years younger than the ABC crowd.
“The audiences that brands can reach across MNF on both ABC and ESPN is a prime example of why packaging linear with streaming is so powerful, and why we look at that portfolio approach as being such a differentiator for us,” Ferro said.
In addition to an already enviable NFL slate, Ferro’s team can also look forward to selling ABC/ESPN’s new SEC package, which includes the marquee 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday slot formerly stewarded by CBS as well as what amounts to an additional 15 games per season. Disney last year delivered its second most-watched college football season in eight years, and advertisers who bought into the Mouse House’s college pigskin slate were rewarded with significant upside. According to Ferro, a single unit purchased in ABC/ESPN’s college football games was as effective as a six-spot buy on one of the competing networks.
While Ferro will be busy moving units and sponsorships this spring, Disney’s long-term partnerships help eliminate a lot of the usual upfront haggling. With 60 multiyear deals in place across multiple leagues and sports, there’s simply less inventory to sell off during the annual bazaar. Supply-and-demand being what it is, the relative scarcity only serves to give ABC/ESPN a leg up on the pricing side.
Among the brands that have long-term deals in place with Ferro’s team are AT&T, Taco Bell, Home Depot, Capital One and Ram Trucks.
Which isn’t to say that the Disney sales crew will get to duck out to the Hamptons for the summer while everyone else tries to drum up business. For one thing, multiyear deals are what sets the sports market apart from the rest of the field, so NBC, CBS, Fox, et al., are all on similar footing as they look to secure buys across their respective portfolios. It’s new business that keeps everyone hopping, and the opportunity to drum up a bunch of deals with first-timers is expected to blow up as more brands look to align themselves with women’s sports.
“At Disney, our mantra is women’s sports is not a moment, it’s a movement,” Ferro said, noting that the company has been a proud backer of this movement for the better part of the last three decades. “We’ve had brands and partners that have really pushed us to continue to do more, to really give these sports and these athletes the right windows so they get the exposure they deserve.”
Disney is already engaged in talks with GroupM, the $64 billion global media-buying firm that recently unwrapped an initiative to double down on its investment in women’s sports. “Our volume of women’s sports makes us an obvious place for GroupM to be having big and bold conversations, and we’re so excited that they’re leaning into that narrative,” Ferro said. “Women’s sports is now a huge priority for agencies and advertisers, and it’s been a long time coming.”
Given that over one-third of all live sports is available via one of the ESPN platforms, Ferro & Co. have the privilege of selling more units that air within the context of live programming-an environment that remains a must-have for any marketer looking to scare up the greatest number of commercial impressions.
“Live matters in linear television and sports is the best expression of that, to the max,” Ferro said. “Nothing replaces live sports.”
Disney’s 2024-25 upfront presentation will be held May 14 at New York’s Javits Center.
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