Mexican nets team up for NFL football pact

Televisa to b'cast Monday night games, Azteca takes Sundays

By KEN BENSINGER

MEXICO CITY-- U.S. National Football League games will return to Mexico's screens following a year's absence, after leading nets Televisa and TV Azteca inked a three-year deal to split broadcast rights to the games.

Negotiations for last season's rights broke down after Televisa and TV Azteca claimed the league's asking price was too high and said it was demanding the broadcast of many more regular-season games than it had in other years.

Televisa will broadcast Monday night games as well as the first game of the season, while TV Azteca will broadcast one Sunday game every week. The two will split Thanksgiving Day coverage and the playoffs, and they will share the Super Bowl.

It was the first time in 36 years that the regular season wasn't shown on terrestrial TV in Mexico.

Analysts say the new deal's cooperative nature reflects the fact that Mexican auds favor soccer.

But the pair are still waging a bitter war over the Olympics. Both have rights to the Athens games and are blanketing Mexico with coverage in hopes of scoring the highest auds and ad revenue.

Early returns suggest Televisa is taking ratings gold. For the Opening Ceremony, Televisa edged out a 27 share, compared with a 20 share for TV Azteca, according to pollster Ibope.

But the real difference can be seen in Olympics-related programming. Televisa's sports analysis show "Primero Atenas" (Athens First) reeled in a 30.2 share on inaugural Friday, while Azteca's "Los Protagonistas de la Tarde" (the Heroes of the Afternoon) nabbed a 10.2 share. Televisa's Opening Ceremony run-up coverage beat Azteca's, with a 31.9 share compared with Azteca's 20.7.