Overview
- The NFL, per a Thursday CNBC report, plans a slight increase in free broadcast exposure on next season’s schedule as it prepares to unveil matchups next week.
- Reporting also indicates YouTube and Netflix will split four former Monday Night Football doubleheaders that ESPN returned, with YouTube viewed as the front-runner for a separate five-game package.
- Commissioner Roger Goodell, in a Tuesday Vanity Fair profile, defended selling games to streamers and said “Netflix is not a small distribution,” as the Justice Department reviews the league’s media practices.
- Disney’s ESPN said Wednesday it has not begun early renewal talks with the NFL, even after adding NFL Network and RedZone in an asset swap that gave the league a 10% stake in ESPN.
- The league says roughly 87–88% of games already air on free broadcast TV and aims to nudge that share higher to ease access concerns raised by fans and policymakers.