The NFL could begin renegotiating its media rights deals as soon as 2026, four years ahead of the current agreement’s opt-out clause, Commissioner Roger Goodell told CNBC in an exclusive interview.
A new media rights deal could potentially add billions of dollars to the league’s coffers. The league needs agreement from its current media partners — Disney, Comcast’s NBCUniversal, Paramount, Amazon and Fox — to start discussions on any new deal.
The NFL signed an 11-year, $111 billion media rights deal in 2021 that contains a league opt-out clause after the 2029-30 season for all of its media partners except Disney, which has one extra year of rights.
Both sides may be incentivized to strike new rights agreements if it means the league can increase annual revenue and media partners can extend control of NFL rights for years to come.
“I think our partners would want to sit down and talk to us at any time, and we continue to dialogue with them. I like that opportunity,” Goodell said. “Obviously it’s not going to happen this year. But it could happen as early as next year. That could happen.”
NFL programming is the most watched content on traditional television. Last year, 72 of the top 100 programs were NFL games, according to data collected by Nielsen. The year before, 93 of the top 100 were NFL games.
“The reason why we felt so strongly about the option is the landscape is changing. It could be a long-term deal with the benefit of having that stability and security of it. But I think the reality of it is it changes so quickly that you want to have the ability to move. I think those options are going to give us a lot of flexibility to potentially go earlier,” said Goodell.
Other major professional leagues, such as the NBA and NHL, have dramatically increased their TV revenue in the last year by striking new deals with media partners. Goodell admitted to watching other recent sports’ media deals and said, in comparison, the NFL is leaving money on the table.
Representatives for Amazon, Disney’s ESPN, Fox, NBCUniversal and Paramount-owned CBS declined to comment.
Accelerating to 2026
Accelerating media talks may be tricky in the early part of 2026 from a regulatory perspective, as ESPN has a pending deal with the NFL that would see the league acquire a 10% stake in the network. Renegotiating a media rights deal while that acquisition is still pending may present a conflict of interest both sides would like to avoid.
If that deal goes through, ESPN may be more open to play ball with the NFL on a future media deal given the league’s minority ownership.
Another delay to expedited renegotiations could come courtesy of a potential 18th week of regular season play. The league may want the additional week before it locks in new media deals, but such a change would require approval by the NFL Players Association, which currently only has an interim leader.
The NFL will want to weigh any new deal with flexibility to add new partners, such as YouTube and Netflix. Both companies have now carried games for the NFL. YouTube streamed a Week 1 game this year, and Netflix made its NFL debut on Christmas Day last year and will continue that tradition this season with two more games.
Accelerating new media deals for professional football could affect MLB as well.
That league plans on renegotiating its media rights at the end of the 2028 season. If the NFL moves first and scores big increases from media partners, it’s possible media companies will feel more constrained to spend on other sports. It’s also possible MLB could use a large NFL increase as evidence for why its content should get a bigger bump in fees as well, given the value inherent in live sports where commercials can’t be skipped.
A new deal for the NFL could also increase the league’s salary cap in future seasons, giving teams more money to spend on players and potentially leading to roster expansion.
NFL team valuations are also largely tied to the league’s TV deals. Franchise valuations have soared in recent years, with the average NFL team now worth $7.65 billion, according to CNBC’s Official 2025 NFL Team Valuations — up 18% from last year.
A large bump in revenue would likely keep that momentum going.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.