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Today’s National Football League certainly looks a lot different than it did less than two decades ago.
The schedule has been increased to 17 games, with 18 definitely not out of the question. These games are now played in more places globally than ever before, and you may need plenty of subscription services to watch your favorite teams.
It’s a different world that has its pros and cons, but the pros don’t seem to be on the side of the fans, who are spending more money than ever before to watch their favorite teams.
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New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman (11) and tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports)
To catch all the action during the 2025 season, fans had to spend at least $575, with some spending nearly $800.
“I’m all about having games on the mainstream. I watched games growing up, every game on the mainstream. I actually didn’t watch a lot of games this year because it was on a streaming network and it was hard to make an account real quick no matter where I was on the road, you know, in a hotel room. I wasn’t at home. I’m all about the mainstream,” future Hall of Famer News Rob Gronkowski told Fox Digital in a recent interview. “I understand the business side of the NFL, and as a businessman, I never want to hate the way it’s run because it’s all about the business, you know? You’ve got to keep it growing, you’ve got to get the money and all that good stuff. So you can’t hate that, but I’m a mainstream guy.”
“It stinks … There’s pros to this thing and then there’s definitely cons where everybody has to go, ‘Where are we going for this game, that game, that game, this game?'” added Gronk’s former teammate Julian Edelman. “So I think there’s a lot of good things about it, and obviously there’s some things, you know, that’s not good about it. So that’s where I stand on it.”
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New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman raises his hands in celebration with tight end Rob Gronkowski after throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Danny Amendola during the third quarter of an NFL divisional playoff football game at Gillette Stadium, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. (Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
The NFL has also talked more about player safety, yet the talk of going to 18 games is real and the NFL will play in Australia later this year.
But Edelman hardly feels for today’s players given their contracts.
“You see what these guys are signing up for? They’re going to be fine,” Edelman said. “The bigger the game, the more the guys get paid, and it’s going to show them a lot better in the big picture. So I think it’s a great thing for the league once the game gets bigger internationally, because if the game gets bigger, the players get paid more. So I’m all for it.
“I mean, [Jaxon Smith-Njigba] just received 42 million dollars (per year) as a recipient. I think the bigger the game gets, I think it’s bigger for everybody… Would I want it as a player to play 18 games? No, but we’re making the game bigger. It is a double-edged sword. It will be sour because it will hurt a lot more, but the revenue will be higher.”
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski celebrates with teammate Julian Edelman after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter. (Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“That’s why the salary cap just keeps jumping every single year. The game is expanding,” Gronkowski added. “And on top of that, the NFL does a really good job of scheduling. For example, the Australia game this year, it’ll be the opening game of the year on a Wednesday or Thursday, and then when they fly back, they’ll win all that time.
“So they have all that time to go down there, get adjusted, be there for five days and then they can fly back to LA and then boom, they land and they win a day back and then they can recover for three days and then have a normal week. So it’s all about scheduling. So I like what they’re doing and it’s about growing the business. So if they can keep the right schedule, it’s good to think the player is good. to the game, man, that I really do.”
