How Will Tom Brady Do? Are You Ready for Netflix Games? 6 Big NFL Media Questions for 2024

August 22, 2024

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How Will Tom Brady Do? Are You Ready for Netflix Games? 6 Big NFL Media Questions for 2024

We’re just two weeks away from the NFL’s opener — Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs host Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens on September 5. The game, which will air on NBC and Peacock, is a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship Game. As we prepare for the official start of America’s pastime, here are six big questions to consider from a media perspective.

1. How will Tom Brady do as an analyst on Fox NFL?

Brady is easily the biggest NFL media story of 2024, given his notoriety. He starts with a huge audience: The NFL gave Fox a Week 1 game featuring the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns in a national Sunday afternoon window. (Fox asked its NFL affiliates to fill the early season with games that could draw huge audiences, since it didn’t have the success it expected in the 4:25 p.m. ET window last year.) That means an intense amount of eyes on Brady, who will draw curiosity seekers early. He ends by announcing Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9.

In another era, Brady might have begun his NFL broadcasting career working low-profile games or as a second analyst on an “A” team. That was the formula for Troy Aikman and Cris Collinsworth. But in today’s NFL broadcasting landscape — and given the money Brady is paid — there’s no learning curve. He’s immediately judged, fairly or unfairly.

Those who work with him — Fox runs a very tight ship when it comes to talking about Brady publicly — say he’s fully invested in becoming a good announcer. He’s funny, occasionally rude and comes across as a regular person with a not-so-regular career and life. His crew has already done practice games in Saint Clara and LA, and Brady has been on a fact-finding mission about broadcasting for months. Both Tony Romo and Jim Nantz told The Athletics earlier this year that they speak to Brady often.

My initial thoughts on Brady before I heard him: I think he’s better at this than you’d expect. He’s obsessed with football, and that usually makes for interesting broadcasters. Secondly, I’d bet almost everything I’ve got that he won’t finish out his 10-year contract with Fox. He’s always struck me as someone with more ambition than broadcasters. But we haven’t had a more anticipated sports broadcast debut in a while, and I’m excited to see how this one plays out.

2. Does the presidential election affect the NFL’s numbers?

It’s a question debated in the nerdy corners of the sports-viewing world and back at NFL headquarters. Historically, NFL viewership has declined during U.S. presidential election years. For example, NFL games averaged 16.5 million viewers in 2016, down from 18.1 million in 2015. The 2020 season is a bit tricky due to COVID, but games averaged 15.4 million viewers, down from 16.5 million. The 2012 season averaged 16.6 million viewers, down from 17.5 million in 2011.

Of course, there are always multiple factors that cause ratings to fluctuate, but news consumption that pulls audiences away from the NFL is a real problem. It’s something to keep an eye on, especially in a highly polarized political environment.

3. How will consumers react to the Netflix Christmas games?

We learned in May that Netflix had acquired exclusive rights to stream two NFL games on Christmas Day 2024: the Chiefs vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Ravens vs. the Houston Texans. The three-season deal also includes a Christmas Day game in 2025 and 2026. CBS will produce the two games this year, which is important because Netflix can’t produce NFL games itself. It helps make the games feel like a network-level product. (CBS stations in Baltimore and Pittsburgh and CBS affiliates in Kansas City and Houston will also air the games.)

The big question looming is Netflix’s long-term ambitions when it comes to major sports. Amazon dipped its toe in the NFL waters before it hit the big time — and now look at the streamer. If the numbers are big, and why wouldn’t they be, we’re going to hear some real buzz about Netflix eventually landing a more significant partnership with the NFL. Keep in mind: The NFL has an international slate of games that it could easily parlay into a future media rights package.

Greg Olsen has been moved to the No. 2 spot at Fox and is in prime position to move up to the top spot when a job opens up. (Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

4. How does Greg Olsen deal with being on Fox’s number 2 team?

Yes, getting demoted sucks, and it’s a significant reduction in money (my colleague Andrew Marchand reported that Olsen’s salary will drop from $10 million to $3 million with the move from a No. 1 to a No. 2 team). Still, Olsen has handled his professional situation with aplomb. He’s already proven that he has the bona fides to be a No. 1 NFL TV analyst, so when a No. 1 job opens up in the future, he’ll get significant looks.

On the work front, Olsen has an excellent play-by-play voice in Joe Davis and a great sideline reporter in Pam Oliver. The transition should be seamless. One thing Fox needs to figure out is how to use him at the Super Bowl. They’ll have to come up with a creative way to give him a lot of airtime during the broadcast.

5. How much importance do viewers place on changes in NFL pre-game studio shows?

Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason, both key players in CBS’ NFL coverage for decades, are no longer on “The NFL Today.” Matt Ryan has taken that spot. ESPN has parted ways with longtime “Sunday NFL Countdown” anchor Sam Ponder, replacing her with Mike Greenberg. ESPN has also brought in Jason Kelce to join its “Monday Night Countdown” studio show, replacing Robert Griffin III, who joined Ponder as part of an ESPN cost-cutting move. Will there be a significant viewer reaction or ratings impact as a result of these transactions?

Replacing Ponder so close to the NFL season was an odd decision, though ESPN management seems determined to have Greenberg host every show, so this contributes to that effort. (As I’ve said on social media, I would have picked Laura Rutledge given her daily NFL bona fides and deep college football resume.) Ryan has currency because he’s relatively fresh off the field, and Kelce was a hot free agent. The only move here that could be ratings-related from my perspective is Kelce, as there could be some curiosity early in the season, especially as the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce news cycle heats up again in NFL media circles.

6. Will Bill Belichick Fall in Love with Broadcasting?

It is widely expected that Belichick will seek a head coaching job in order to pass Don Shula on the all-time wins list one more time. But as I have been writing for years: He has the potential to be a good announcer when the topic is Xs and Os, as he’s always excelled in those settings (such as his NFL Films work). Belichick was informative on Pat McAfee’s NFL Draft special , and he’ll have multiple media roles this fall. He’ll be a regular guest on McAfee’s show, have a recurring guest spot on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli,” have a role on The CW’s “Inside the NFL” and will host “Coach with Bill Belichick” — a weekly football analysis show for Underdog Fantasy that will air on YouTube.

If you want to call out Belichick for the hypocrisy of being grumpy with the media and then embracing media appearances and the money that comes with them, by all means do so. He’s joining a long list. But we’ve all seen famous coaches descend into long media careers. It’s a pretty sweet gig to not just have your ass kissed by media executives — they pay you for the privilege.