I recently wrote a post about streaming inflation over at Disney Plus this year but that’s peanuts to what will come in 2029. If you’re not aware, the NFL contracts with the big networks will become re-negotiable in 2029.
So let’s go through a little history here. Back in the dinosaur age, we used to have something called “cable” which offered a bundle of TV channels for a reasonable price. Over time, these bundles became more and more expensive and the root cause was soaring fees for “sports” in these bundles. Many people screamed foul and asked for “de-bundled” channels but the providers had no desire to do so because they were now on the hook for huge sports television contracts.
People protested the ever growing cost of these bundles by “cutting the cord” and signing on with new “streaming” services like Netflix that offered commercial free entertainment and cost a whole lot less. There were sacrifices though like live TV and no sports but it was a nice trade off for those people that did not want to subsidize ever ballooning sports costs.
2029
Fast forward to 2024 and we now know that it costs about $1600 per year just to watch NFL games on various TV platforms. Athletes keep getting paid more, TV sports rights keep costing more and TV bundles keep costing more but that will all change in 2029 when the NFL can bail out of those contracts.
By all indication, streaming services like Apple, Amazon, and Netflix are all clamoring for those NFL contracts and will supposedly pay top dollar. Well guess where those top dollars will come from, it’s not going to be from their coffers but in way higher subscription fees for those streaming services. I suspect that in 2029, my $20/month subscription will cost $79/month because of sports and there won’t be a way to opt out because for some reason, all of us need to subsidize sports on TV.
We are officially in the “golden age” of streaming services right now, they are cheap, mostly commercial free, and free from ballooning costs of sports but it won’t last. The clock is ticking, you have about 4 years left.
Share The Wealth
Are you ready to pay three or four times what you pay now for your favorite streaming service? Let me know in the comments below.