Article: NFL Adds Two Teams To Playoffs;Postseason Change Linked to ABC Deal Of Nearly $1 Billion

In two sweeping moves yesterday, the National Football League added two wild-card teams to its playoffs and reached agreement on a contract with ABC-TV that will pay the league close to $1 billion over the next four years, almost twice as much as the previous contract with the network.

The news came in what is becoming an offseason of remarkable change for the NFL. Earlier this week, the league agreed to TV deals with two cable networks and decided to lengthen the season by a week to create more TV exposure and commercial opportunities.

The NFL's agreements with ESPN and TBS are believed to be about $450 million each, which means, including the ABC agreement, the league already has in ...

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