[Satellite TODAY Insider 12-08-11] The ESPN sports network renegotiated its broadcast contract with the National Football League (NFL) and has agreed to pay $15.2 billion over eight years for the rights to Monday Night Football, as well as online and mobile extensions. Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, however, criticized the deal while speaking at a Dec. 6 media conference, and said that the negotiated sum amounts to about 73 percent more than the expiring contract is worth.

   According to a recent study by SNL Kagan, ESPN is the most expensive network for pay-TV operators to carry. The network costs operators $4.69 a month per subscriber to carry. SNL Kagan said the new deal could raise that premium to as much as $8.50 per subscriber per month.

   “The implication of these consumer rate hikes is similar to a new tax on every American household,” Maffei said during the conference. NFL representatives said the league is looking to negotiate similar terms with its other network partners in order to generate an increase of at least 60 percent in fees for a total of $24 billion over the next eight years. “We think what ESPN paid is an indication of the strength of our product," NFL Media COO Brian Rolapp said in a statement.

   The terms of the NFL’s rights negotiation schedule will allow NBC, CBS and FOX the first opportunity to accept or reject renegotiations for carriage rights in the 2014 season. If the networks fail to come to a deal with the NFL within the projected yearlong negotiation period, the league said it would open up the competition to other networks.

   “There is no guarantee that advertising or multiplatform strategies will be enough to recoup the additional content licensing costs,” Maffei said. “Passing the costs on to the consumer in the form of higher subscription costs is highly risky in today’s churn-riddled, cord-cutting, overly competitive marketplace. [Pay-TV] has been the golden goose and what does it take to choke it? It’s a scary proposition.”