The NFL could leave its $110bn media agreements early as it questions if streaming should play a bigger role in its next rights cycle.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has opened the door to changing how the league packages its media rights in response to fans turning to streaming platforms.
Speaking to CNBC, Goodell said the NFL is talking with existing broadcasters and potential future partners about its next approach.
The NFL has divided its US rights around major viewing window for decades, including Sunday afternoon games, Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football. Streaming has become a bigger part of its model in recent years, with digital platforms securing their own games and packages.
Goodell suggested the league could take a step further and rethink how those rights are divided.
“Should we repackage our current packages? Should we think differently about where we go with those things?” he said.
Any change is unlikely to happen immediately, with the NFL’s current agreements running until 2032, although the league has an option to step away from those deals from 2029.
Goodell said no decision has been made on whether the league will use that option, suggesting the league is still assessing what its next rights model could look like.
Streaming to become staple?
Like many sports leagues, streaming has taken on a greater role in the media strategy of American football in recent years. Amazon Prime Video became the exclusive national home of Thursday Night Football and Netflix has secured NFL games around Christmas. YouTube also holds the Sunday Ticket package for out-of-market Sunday afternoon games.
Traditional broadcast partners have aslo developed their own streaming services, allowing fans to access NFL coverage without a conventional cable package.
“The world is changing for our partners,” he said. “It’s changing for us. It’s changing for fans. Our fans are moving to other platforms.”
Streaming platforms could now play a bigger role in how the the league divides its media rights when the league next negotiates its broadcast deals, with his comments hinting that the league is considering whether games could be grouped differently, including by day, audience or platform.
It is thought that this would give the NFL more flexibility to sell packages beyond its traditional broadcast windows and potentially attract more digital partners into the market.
More platforms, more money or more problems?
Finding additional buyers could increase competition for NFL rights. The league’s current agreements with Fox, ESPN, NBC and Amazon are worth around $110bn over 11 years. However, the NFL has placed importance on keeping its games accessible to a broad audience and Goodell made clear that reach is a vital part of the calculation in addition to the commercial value of any future agreement.
Goodell said the league must assess which partners can provide “the greatest opportunity to reach those fans on a global basis”, adding that the league hadn’t previously viewed its media strategy in the same way.
More streaming packages could create new inventory, attract additional bidders and allow the NFL to reach viewers outside the traditional television ecosystem, but spreading games across too many services could also leave fans needing multiple subscriptions to follow the league.
It’s an issue that has already attracted scrutiny in the US, with the Department of Justice examining the NFL’s media arrangements amid concerns over the cost of accessing games and the growing role of streaming platforms.
During the 2025 season, watching all 272 regular-season games required access to several different services and could cost around $935.
The NFL has pushed back against criticism of its distribution model, telling Insider Sport that more than 87% of its games are available on free broadcast television, including every game in the local markets of the teams involved.
Fragmentation is nevertheless becoming an increasingly common complaint among sports fans, with the need to subscribe to multiple services also linked to rising levels of piracy.
