The NFL is reportedly set to release its schedule on Wednesday or Thursday of next week, and we’re now receiving a bit of clarity (and confusion) about where some of these games will land next season.
Among the mystery games currently without a broadcast home are the four former Monday Night Football doubleheaders that ESPN returned to the NFL as part of its deal to acquire NFL Network earlier this year. Those games are now unaccounted for, and the conventional wisdom has been that the league will likely sell them to a streamer, or, as it now appears, streamers.
According to a report by Alex Sherman of CNBC on Thursday, the NFL plans to divvy up those games between YouTube and Netflix. The news comes amid separate reports suggesting YouTube is in line to land a five-game package, and that Netflix is interested in expanding its NFL package beyond its two Christmas Day games. 2026 is the final year of a three-year pact between Netflix and the NFL, and the streamer is reportedly interested in renewing the deal.
The idea that the NFL wants to sell more games to streamers is nothing new. But what makes this report especially interesting is that the NFL plans to increase its broadcast footprint this season as compared to last. About 87% of NFL games aired on broadcast networks last season, and the league expects that number to increase slightly this year, per Sherman.
But it would seem that if both YouTube and Netflix are positioned to land “mini-packages” of between four and five games, that necessarily requires fewer games be allocated to broadcast networks. Let’s say the NFL sells nine games total between YouTube and Netflix. Four of those games would be the former Monday Night Football doubleheaders, while two are the Christmas Day games already allocated to Netflix. That still leaves three additional games the NFL would need to carve out, presumably from its linear partners, to fill these packages.
We already know at least one game will make the jump from streaming back to broadcast this season. A third Christmas Day game will air on Fox this season after Prime Video had the honor last year by dint of the holiday landing on Thursday. But if the league plans to increase its broadcast footprint while still selling new mini-packages to both YouTube and Netflix, it is unclear exactly how the math will work itself out.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.