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The evolution of live sports programming has become a battleground between traditional broadcast companies and streaming platforms, which compete for the right to broadcast the best possible games year after year.
The NFL is the cream of the crop, generating about $10 billion a year from its current media rights deal. And the league will likely renegotiate that deal by the end of this year, with reports indicating it wants it done before the first week of the 2026 season kicks off in September.
With additional media partners potentially coming into the fold under this new deal, where do incumbents like FOX, CBS and NBC fit into the pie chart that is the NFL schedule?
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Fox broadcast crew from left, Tom Brady, Tom Rinaldi, Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews and Dean Blandino pose for a photo before an NFL football game between the Chicago Bears and the Dallas Cowboys at Solider Field on September 21, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)
EX-NFL STAR SHAWNE MERRIMAN SAYS PLAYERS ARE PAID MORE WHEN TV RIGHTS DEALS EXPLODE
“I think, for better or worse, (consolidation) is a critical thing right now,” he said. “And I look at this purely through the prism of broadcasting. If we want to compete for these NFL sports rights, if we want to compete at the local level to ensure that teams feel like they have a local distribution option that is available for free through local broadcasts as opposed to regional cable sports networks or even streaming, broadcasters need a certain scale to achieve that. The only way to achieve that scale is through some level of consolidation.”
We are already seeing key mergers in the television industry, including Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, which are awaiting approval and which will probably come to fruition. Additionally, the NFL and ESPN reached a historic deal in which the sports giant acquired NFL Network, NFL RedZone and NFL Fantasy. In exchange, the league received a 10% stake in ESPN, valued at approximately $3 billion.
Close-up view of a person using a broadcast camera with a FOX Sports logo cover during the NFL game between the Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons on November 16, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire)
The merger of these broadcasters can help compete with the likes of Amazon, Netflix and perhaps others will join the fray if and when negotiations ensue for a new media rights deal. With JC Tretter elected as the new executive director of the NFL Players Association, those negotiations could happen sooner rather than later.
Now where does the NFL fan come in here? The price of just watching the NFL schedule is quite steep, with fans expected to pay at least $575 to watch every game if they want to in 2025. The need for subscriptions to ESPN, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and NFL+, among others, is only increasing as the league’s media rights prices continue to grow.
Fans would love to be able to access their favorite sports if free streams do it.
A general view of the Amazon Thursday Night Football show featuring Charissa Thompson, Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andrew Whitworth and Richard Sherman during the TNF on Prime halftime show during an NFL football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on October 2, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
The FCC said last month it would seek public comment on the ongoing shift of live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services, which includes the nation’s other major sports leagues like the NBA, MLB and others.
