NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league is prioritizing partners that maximize audience reach across all platforms, even as the NFL comes off a banner 2025 season with record-breaking viewership.
"What we focus on is 'How do we reach the broadest number of people, on every broadcast? How do we make an event out of that?'" Goodell stated during his Super Bowl press conference. "At the end of the day, we want partners who are going to broaden our audience."
The NFL averaged 18.7 million viewers per regular-season game in 2025, the second-highest mark since tracking began in 1988, marking a 10% increase from 2024. Milestones extended through the playoffs, wild-card round, divisional games, conference championships, and streaming platforms.
With current domestic media rights deals worth over $10 billion annually and opt-outs possible after the 2029 season, Goodell indicated negotiations could begin as early as this year.
He has called the rights "undervalued" and sees the upcoming talks as a chance to significantly boost revenue while preserving broad, event-style distribution across broadcast, cable, and streaming.
Goodell emphasized media's critical role in fan engagement: "We spend a large amount of our time on media because that is one of the most significant ways we interact with our fans, and engage with our fans."