SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 2: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell speaks throughout Tremendous Bowl LX Opening Evening at San Jose McEnery Conference Middle on February 02, 2026 in San Jose, California. (Picture by Kathryn Riley/Getty Photos) | Getty Photos
The NFL is definitely the preferred sports activities league within the nation, with essentially the most TV/Cable/Streaming viewers each single season. In addition they lead all leagues in merchandise gross sales and ridiculous broadcast contracts. These contracts are ridiculous, provided that broadcasters commonly lose cash on their offers but return for the subsequent spherical of contract negotiations, bidding above worth for an additional spherical of rights. No different league might pull this off time after time. The overpaying by numerous broadcasters for the rights to air NFL video games doesn’t harm us followers instantly, however the NFL is doing lots else to harm followers all the identical.
The one factor the NFL does with its broadcasting rights that hurts us followers is divvying up video games to each single broadcaster or streamer who exhibits as much as the rights negotiations with a large enough bag. Now we’ve Thursday night time video games on Amazon Prime. Then there’s the ever-growing checklist of different streamers, together with Peacock, Netflix, and ESPN+. In the event you stay outdoors the native viewing space in your favourite workforce, like me, there’s additionally the very costly NFL Sunday Ticket you can stream by way of YouTube or YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket might be $240 this coming season for brand spanking new customers, whereas earlier customers might be charged $378 with YouTube TV or $480 as a standalone product by way of YouTube. I don’t know the way I’d have ever been in a position to watch video games now if I have been nonetheless in my 20s. This looks as if an enormous mistake on the NFL’s half, presumably pricing out the youthful viewer who will in the future kind the inspiration of their fan base, particularly throughout a time when there are such a lot of different leisure choices accessible.
There’s additionally the entire video games on different nights/days outdoors of Sunday, Monday night time, and the normal Thanksgiving Day video games factor. Now we’ve a sport on the night time earlier than Thanksgiving, giving us our first Wednesday night time sport!?! The Friday video games may also return on Black Friday, with a triple header on Christmas, which falls on a Friday this 12 months. I can’t think about that is as widespread with precise NFL followers because the league thinks it’s, or a minimum of says it’s, however so long as it provides them one other solution to squeeze a number of additional {dollars} out of the broadcasting/streaming system as it’s now, it’s going to proceed to occur.
The NFL has additionally signaled that it plans to go to an 18-game season with 2 bye weeks. This by no means improves the sport, however it does, after all, give the league 16 extra video games a season to promote to somebody whereas additionally including two extra weeks to the season, thus…giving it one other solution to demand more cash from the assorted carriers. There was appreciable pushback on this by the gamers and their union, however the house owners will proceed to push for it, and I assume that if it takes till the subsequent collective bargaining settlement that comes up for renewal after the 2030 season, the house owners will get their approach by giving in on another small/insignificant factor that the gamers need.
One other factor that almost all followers appear to dislike is the worldwide video games. These video games started with simply a few video games in Europe, and now we’re as much as 9 this season. The NFL will return to Europe, Mexico, and Brazil this 12 months with the addition of a sport in Australia. The commissioner, Roger Goodell, has now acknowledged that the NFL’s final purpose is 16 worldwide video games per season. That is on high of the league, doable enlargement by inserting new franchises in international international locations. I can solely assume that the quantity will ultimately properly exceed 16 video games if there are ultimately groups in different international locations. This additionally sticks it to the followers who’re season-ticket holders and miss a house sport, when the NFL, not like all the opposite leagues, has so few video games per season to start with.
There are additionally the principles adjustments. I’m all for measures that really shield the well-being of the gamers on the sector, however a few of their current rule adjustments to take action haven’t made the sport safer; they’ve solely gotten us additional away from what we think about “American football.” The NFL ought to proceed to have a look at, analysis, and put money into methods to make the sport safer for gamers, however cease attempting to alter the sport in radical methods. The NFL additionally has a refereeing difficulty that has eroded followers’ religion within the sport’s equity. It is a topic that would in all probability be its personal sequence of posts, and one which the NFL CLEARLY wants to deal with.
So tonight’s Phinsider Query Of The Day is:
What’s your tackle the entire adjustments that the NFL has, will, or desires to make to its product? Do you consider it’s going to all work itself out, because it’s nonetheless simply the preferred sport within the US, or do you consider the NFL is slowly killing the golden goose? Both approach, which of the adjustments do you wish to see truly occur, which adjustments would you make if you happen to had a say, and which of the adjustments do you wish to see go away or by no means occur?
Please share your ideas and solutions within the feedback part below-
