Bye Bye MNF?

"Cause Monday Night Football kicks off tonight!" Perhaps that might be the last time we hear that familiar phrase as ESPN seeks to acquire MNF from ABC (that's a lot of acronyms I know). How do you value the NFL? Can you measure it by salaries, revenue earned, marketing deals? Perhaps not, and what about the immeasurable human appreciation for guys going at each other every Monday Night for a pigskin? (Don't get me wrong, I'm one of the people glued to the TV) But truly, how can one even make a bid to televise the NFL?

It's estimated in the article that ESPN will pay the NFL 1 BILLION dollars a year for eight years, and this only covers the regular season games!! It's almost like bidding for the Olympics, how do you quantitize the costs and benefits?

What do you think could explain the high bid and the exact number?

The article notes that ESPN can really outbid ABC because ESPN has the power to charge higher distribution prices to its subscribers whereas ABC's only revenues are derived from advertising.