Largest sports league TV contracts worldwide 2016
Television’s role in sport
Television broadcasting is a crucial aspect of the global sports industry, especially at the professional level. Sports leagues such as the NFL and English Premier League sell the rights to broadcast their games to media companies who then provide access to fans and casual viewers around the world. In the United States, NFL football games accounted for four of the top five most watched shows of 2018, leading to fierce competition among broadcasting companies hoping for their slice of some of the most valuable advertising time in the world. In 2018, both Anheuser-Busch and Fiat Chrysler spent tens of millions of U.S. dollars on advertising space during the Super Bowl alone. These large sums of money generated by leagues through selling broadcast rights are often at least partially distributed among the participating teams, ensuring all parties involved benefit from the massive popularity of professional sports around the world.