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Sirius satellite gets NFL football
Reuters
Sirius Satellite Radio Signs NFL Deal Tuesday December 16, 9:45 am ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sirius Satellite Radio (NasdaqNM:SIRI - News) said on Tuesday it signed a $220 million deal with the National Football League to broadcast professional football games beginning in 2004. Over the course of the seven-year deal, the NFL will receive $188 million in cash and $32 million in Sirius stock, with the ability to earn warrants to buy an additional 50 million shares. Sirius gets national broadcast rights to all regular season NFL games, as well as select preseason and playoff contests. It also becomes the official satellite radio provider of the NFL. "I would call this a transformative event," said Sirius CEO Joseph Clayton. "There's no question we're the leader in sports compared to terrestrial radio or our (satellite) competitor." The deal is not exclusive, but Clayton said it contains a provision that would make it "very expensive" for Sirius competitor XM Satellite Radio (NasdaqNM:XMSR - News) to gain the same kind of rights to NFL games. As part of the agreement, Sirius will create an additional sports channel, "The NFL Radio Network," an around-the-clock stream of NFL games, features and analysis. The deal adds football to Sirius' sports roster, which also includes the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. Clayton said the deal is back-loaded to allow Sirius to pay more as subscriber numbers grow. Sirius agreed to pay the NFL $10 million in the first two years, $85 million in years three through five, and $93 million in the final two years of the deal. Sirius is the second-largest satellite radio provider in the U.S. with 200,000 subscribers. Its leading competitor, XM Satellite Radio, has more than 1 million subscribers. |
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