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The evolution of live sports programming has become a battleground between traditional broadcasters and streaming platforms, fighting 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 on its current media rights deal. And the league is likely to renegotiate that deal by the end of this year, with reports indicating they want it to happen before kickoff in Week 1 of the 2026 season in September.
With additional media partners potentially coming into the fold in this new deal, where do incumbents like FOX, CBS and NBC fit in the pie chart that is the NFL schedule?
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The Fox broadcast team, from left, Tom Brady, Tom Rinaldi, Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews and Dean Blandino pose for a photo prior to 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 ADVOCATES PLAYERS TO BE PAID MORE AS TV RIGHTS DEALS EXPLODE
“I think, for better or worse, (consolidation) is a significant thing right now,” he explained. “And I look at this purely through the broadcast lens. If we’re going to compete for these NFL sports rights, if we’re going to compete locally to make sure the teams feel like they have a local distribution option that’s freely available through local broadcasts as opposed to the regional cable sports networks or even streaming, then the broadcasters need some scale to achieve this level of consolidation.”
We’re already seeing major mergers across broadcast television, including Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, which is awaiting approval, is likely to go through. The NFL and ESPN also reached a landmark deal, where the sports giant bought the NFL Network, NFL RedZone and NFL Fantasy. In return, the league received a 10% stake in ESPN, which was valued at about $3 billion.
A close-up of a person operating a broadcast camera with a cover bearing the FOX Sports logo during the NFL game between the Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons on November 16, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire)
Merging these broadcasters could help compete against the likes of Amazon, Netflix, and perhaps others will join the fray if and when negotiations for a new media rights deal ensue. With JC Tretter selected as the NFL Players’ Association’s new executive director, those talks may come sooner rather than later.
Where does the NFL fan come into play here? The price of simply watching the NFL schedule is quite expensive, with fans having to pay at least $575 to watch every game if they want to in 2025. The need for ESPN, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and NFL+ subscriptions, among others, only points upward as the prices for media rights for the league continue to grow.
Fans would like to be able to access their favorite sports if its free-to-air broadcasts do.
A general view of the Amazon Thursday Night Football broadcast set with 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 include the other major sports leagues in the country like the NBA, MLB and more.
