In the short term (thanks to the ESPN merger), the NFL has four more games to sell to the highest bidder(s). In the not-so-long-term, the NFL will have plenty more games to sell to the various networks and streamers.

And YouTube wants to expand its NFL footprint.

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Via Sam Neumann of AwfulAnnouncing.com, YouTube has made it clear that it’s hoping to stream more NFL games.

“We really value our partnership with the NFL,” YouTube V.P. of subscription products Christian Oestlein informed Lucas Shaw of Bloomberg. “Everything we’ve done with them so far has been really successful. And so we’re very excited about the idea that we could be doing more with them.”

YouTube has streamed one game to date — the 2025 Week 1 Friday night contest between the Chiefs and Chargers from Brazil. And while the global free stream underperformed relative to expectations, few fans will complain about games that are available for no extra fee.

YouTube TV currently has the Sunday Ticket package, which also will be up for bid again as soon as 2029.

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Coupled with recent comments to CNBC from NFL executive V.P. of media distribution Hans Schroeder regarding the league’s desire to look for more potential broadcast partners, the future could include a fracturing of traditional packages with games peppered across a variety of platforms.

Once upon a time, the NFL leveraged a scarcity of packages to get the best deals from the networks that acquired them, typically leaving a network or two out in the cold. The new trend may (or will) entail finding a way to accommodate anyone and everyone with the cash to pay for games and the capacity to make them available to a large audience. That will result in more broadcast partners who have packages of varying sizes, putting more companies in business with the NFL. Which will limit the number of companies that would dare to consider any type of programming that may alienate 345 Park Avenue.

Beyond maximizing revenue and exposure, this approach would also make it virtually impossible for any true competitor to the NFL to emerge. Not that there’s a huge risk of that happening. But if/when (for example) the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund would ever decide to create an alternative pro football league, it would have a hard time finding a high-profile platform if/when all of the various options are already in business with the NFL.

This strategy would also conclusively eliminate the ultimate nuclear option for players in a work stoppage to stage their own games while the NFL proceeds with replacement players. If the NFL has a boat in every port, there will be no way for any of those games to ever see the light of day on a platform with widespread distribution.