"There is no question that the NFL is the dominant property in sports television," CBS Sports president Sean McManus has said. "In terms of ratings (and) fan interest ... the NFL remains the gold standard."

He could have taken it a step further. The numbers say the NFL has become the prime attraction in all of television.

The Super Bowl usually is the top-rated program of the year, but the NFL's drawing power extends far beyond that. Of the 10 highest-rated programs on all the networks in the 2003-04 television season, seven were NFL games. The only exceptions were the Academy Awards and two "Friends" shows.

In addition:

In individual markets, the NFL had the highest-rated program 73 percent of the time in weeks when games were being played. In the final week of the regular season, the NFL had the top rating in all 30 of the markets in which it has a team — the first time that ever had happened.

On cable and satellite television, the NFL occupies nine of the top 10 spots among all programs for which Nielsen Media Research has conducted viewership measurements.

Denver Broncos receiver Ashley Lelie, who starred at UH, can be seen at 6:30 tonight during Monday Night Football. Advertiser library photo

"There is no doubt whatsoever that the NFL is king," said Ed Goren, president of Fox Sports. "If you consider the number of people who watch NFL games across three networks and one cable channel (ESPN), it's phenomenal."

So phenomenal, in fact, that Fox took the biggest gamble anyone ever has on the league — 10 years ago it offered $1.58 billion over four years to televise the NFL, $400 million more than incumbent CBS. Fox, which also televises the World Series and a big chunk of the NASCAR schedule, has had well-documented losses on sports. But its executives knew that snaring the NFL would give it immediate clout.

"I could say we'd be the WB or UPN — I don't mean to insult them, but we would be a boutique network," Goren said.

And it had a dramatic effect on CBS. So much so that the next time the NFL was available, it made sure it was back televising the league.

"If you don't have the NFL, you're not whole," said CBS' Jim Nantz. "It's the one property that makes the (network's sports) division go."

Denver's Jason Elam celebrates after kicking a 50-yard field goal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa, Fla., this season. Elam, who played his college ball at the University of Hawai'i, will take the field today when Denver plays Cincinnati on Monday Night Football. Advertiser library photo

"I do consider it to be the most important thing that Sean has entrusted me with," Nantz said.

CBS got re-involved by outbidding NBC for the American Football Conference portion of the contract in 1998. It's not just the NFL the networks covet — it's the demographics the league delivers — the male 18-34 and 18-49 age groups, which often are difficult to reach. Then, when it reels in this audience with the NFL, it bombards them with promotional announcements touting other programs on the network.

The acquisition of NFL programming also was the key ingredient in ESPN's sprouting from a novelty when it debuted in 1979 to its lofty standing today, not only in sports but in pop culture. First came the draft in the early years, followed by game telecasts in 1987.

Longtime ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman said the NFL legitimized not only his network, but cable TV as a whole, in the minds of many skeptics.

"If the NFL is investing time, money, space, effort in ESPN eight years in (to its existence), who would anyone else be to say, "Well, I don't know about cable,'" Berman said. "If cable is good enough for (the NFL) ... who's to question? I would say that was the ain't-no-turning-back-now stamp. There were others along the way, but that was the hugest."

It's so huge that all of the top-rated programs in the network's history are NFL games.

Bob Ley, another ESPN stalwart, knows why the NFL is so critical.

"It was so important to have the NFL, to be able to say 'the NFL draft on ESPN.' That was incalculable. Nothing is going to bring young males, that targeted — and blessed — demographic to the TV, still, like an NFL game."

Because of its power, the NFL can make unparalleled demands — not only in terms of money, but in the way networks cover the sport and in the way the games are presented.

For example, the NFL was irritated with the ESPN series "Playmakers," a soap opera in which pro football players were portrayed often in an unfavorable light. ESPN, with its NFL contract to expire soon, canceled the series despite it being a ratings success. But it had no trouble portraying Pete Rose in an unflattering manner in its recent movie "Hu$tle" because baseball has much less clout in terms of repercussions.

In another issue, the NFL does not allow the networks to air so-called drop-in ads, which are the ever-increasing plugs for sponsors outside of normal commercial breaks in other sports. There are no "Paul's Pizza Play of the Day," no "Sudsy Beer Scoring Updates" on NFL telecasts.

"In a soft market where advertisers want a bang for their buck, they always want more," Goren said. "But the NFL's resistance shows the strength of the league, because they're the only ones who can do that."

And, he concedes, "It certainly makes for a cleaner broadcast."

The NFL's television contracts expire after next season. Talks have begun, and there is little doubt where the NFL's loyalty lies — on the bottom line. That's why, in recent years, longtime partners CBS and NBC have been jilted in favor of bigger-money offers. The deal that is expiring, which began in 1998, was worth more than $17.6 billion to the NFL.

Dick Ebersol, who runs NBC Sports, said at the time his network pulled out of the bidding that each network involved (ABC, ESPN, Fox and CBS) would lose at least $200 million a year. He said then that NBC wanted to keep the NFL, "but not at a catastrophic loss. We see this as a reckless situation. ... This is a business. This isn't Fantasy Island."

But the networks see the league as a loss leader, as it allows them to draw viewers to their stations. The audience then is hit with promotions for prime-time programming.

In this era of declining rights fees for sports (even nonexistent fees, in the case of the NHL's deal with NBC), the safest bet is that there will be an increase in the money the NFL generates from television.

"We're all concerned about the economics," Goren said. "One bad year can throw it all off — 9/11 affected not only that year, but the one after that. ... A lot of sports properties will be coming up in the next few years. You're seeing a more conservative approach from the networks."

Nonetheless, the NFL seems bulletproof.