You would think that by dint of its top position, ESPN would find growth harder to come by. And yet, its average per-sub fee in 2013 increased 50¢ over that of 2012, per SNL Kagan, and rose 27¢ between 2011 and 2012. Most other networks see improvements of a penny or three each year.
The only sports programmer that approaches ESPN’s numbers is the NFL Network, which is expected to secure $1.34 per subscriber this year, according to SNL Kagan. And it’s football that is essential to ESPN’s well-being.
With its “Monday Night Football” securing top ad prices from sponsors and posing a giant draw for subscribers, ESPN must “do everything possible not to lose the NFL,” Gerbrandt says. At the same time, the big sports leagues will have more companies vying for rights to their games, which “inevitably means the NFL and others are playing more companies off against each other,” he adds.