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Is Brady's Injury a Financial Disaster?
CBS execs expect to lose millions, but hope Favre will draw viewers
By Kevin Spak
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Posted Sep 13, 08 3:00 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Tom Brady’s season-ending knee injury may have crippled the New England Patriots, but what will it cost in dollars and cents? As the NFL’s marquee player, Tom Brady is a money-making machine—yet executives at CBS, which pays $622 million for the AFC package, won't say how many millions his torn ACL will cost them. "You can't really quantify it," one tells Newsweek.
“Without a doubt, less people will be watching,” says ex-CBS Sports executive Rick Gentile. Brett Favre’s move to the Jets could smooth things over for CBS, because New York’s market is far bigger than Boston's. But Gentile adds that “you’re kind of screwed if you’re NBC or ESPN,” which have scheduled national broadcasts of Patriots games.