NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
As the NFL continues to expand its reach, more media companies are seeking their piece of the television rights pie.
But as the media rights deal currently stands, there’s already a demographic of fans who consider it all too much. And fans may have to figure out how to access even more platforms, with the league having to tear up its current paperwork for a more lucrative media rights deal, in which other media partners could get involved.
Tim Brando, the longtime sports broadcaster who currently works with FOX Sports, believes that some Americans don’t like the direction the NFL and sports leagues in general are going with the use of so many platforms.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PK Press Club
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during his State of the NFL press conference ahead of Super Bowl LX between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots in San Jose, California on February 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt York)
“I’m here to tell you that a lot of America is not ready and doesn’t like it,” Brando said on “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich.”
Current NFL primetime slots include Netflix, ESPN, Peacock (“Sunday Night Football,” also airing on NBC) and Amazon Prime Video (“Thursday Night Football”). If other players get involved, consumers will have another platform to follow, not to mention the cost of another subscription on top of how they consume league games each year.
Brando told Dakich how he feels from a March Madness perspective.
EX-NFL STAR SHAWNE MERRIMAN SAYS PLAYERS ARE PAID MORE WHEN TV RIGHTS DEALS EXPLODE
“A lot of people who are not only our age, but people who are a little bit younger, were looking, trying to find Big East tournament games and they couldn’t get them,” he explained, noting that there was a demographic that didn’t know where to access the tournament games since they were no longer on FOX. “They were on Peacock, okay?
Fox college basketball announcer Tim Brando on air during a college basketball game between the St. John’s Red Storm and the Providence Friars on March 20, 2024, in Providence, Rhode Island. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
“The regular over-the-air networks like CBS, FOX, NBC over the air and ABC – we’ve spent a lot of money and you don’t get the revenue streams that you get from Amazon, Apple, Netflix or, on cable, you don’t get what ESPN obviously got all these years by overcharging everyone to get the games on ESPN. Those networks, if you’re in the traditional over-the-air networks, it’s so expensive that now streaming is starting to take over.
“In doing so, people of our generation, and I would say even in the ’50s and early ’40s, are asking, ‘Where’s the game?’ I can’t find the game.'”
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. For the NFL specifically, to witness every ounce of action throughout the 2025 season, fans had to pay at least $575, with some spending almost $800.
Tim Brando before the game between the Seton Hall Pirates and the Iowa Hawkeyes at the Prudential Center on November 16, 2022 in Newark, NJ (Porter Binks/Getty Images)
The price could also rise sooner or later, if the NFL strikes a new media rights deal that is likely to exceed its roughly $10 billion a year in revenue.
