NFL games are by far the most valuable programming left on television, and broadcasters will go to great lengths to secure the rights to air them.

And with the NFL suggesting it is interested in renegotiating its current set of media rights deals several years early, broadcasters are preparing for the price of NFL games to go up sooner rather than later. The NFL could look to renegotiate its current deals as soon as this year. Currently, the league’s deals go through 2033 with an opt-out option in 2029 (aside from its ESPN deal, which includes a 2030 opt-out).

However, the league has realized its current deals are undervalued and doesn’t want to wait until 2029 to cash in. The NFL pulls in over $10 billion in domestic media rights revenue each year, totaling over $100 billion throughout the terms of its deals. At the time the agreements were signed in 2021, that seemed like a reasonable rate. But in the years since, it became apparent that the NFL could command even more.

Perhaps the biggest indication that this is the case is the NBA’s new set of media rights deals, worth $75 billion over the next 11 years. Despite the NFL drawing much larger audiences than the NBA, two of the NBA’s new media partners are paying more money for professional basketball than they are for the NFL.

NBC pays $2 billion for Sunday Night Football each year, but $2.45 billion for its NBA package. Prime Video pays $1 billion for Thursday Night Football, but $1.8 billion for its NBA games. ESPN pays approximately the same price for its NFL package as it does for the NBA.

Given what broadcasters are willing to pay for the NBA, it’s clear that the NFL’s current deals are undervalued. And the NFL is not one to leave money on the table.

As such, broadcasters are prepping to talk shop with the NFL much earlier than anticipated. For legacy networks like Fox and CBS, keeping the NFL is borderline existential for their bottom line. If the NFL says “jump,” Fox and CBS are wise to ask, “how high?”

The NFL’s answer might be “considerably higher than you’re currently jumping.” At least, that’s what Fox is anticipating. Fox currently pays an average of $2.25 billion per year for its Sunday afternoon NFL package. And during a quarterly earnings call on Wednesday morning, CEO Lachlan Murdoch discussed the company’s strategy should the price of NFL games rise as anticipated.

Murdoch said Fox is prepared to “re-balance” its sports rights portfolio to account for a more expensive NFL package. That’s a fancy corporate way of saying other sports are on the chopping block at Fox to make room for the higher cost of NFL rights.

Fox’s Lachlan Murdoch says if NFL costs rise (if the league opts out of media deals and goes back to market), then company would look to “rebalance” its rights. Sounds like NFL’s gain will be another sports property’s loss at Fox

— Daniel Kaplan (@KaplanSportsBiz) February 4, 2026

And looking at the Fox Sports portfolio, there are some big-ticket sports rights that could help the network afford the NFL once they’re off the books. The first that comes to mind is the FIFA World Cup. This summer’s quadrennial event is the final one under Fox’s current contract with FIFA. It’s unknown how much Fox is paying for the 2026 World Cup — the network was awarded a no-bid contract after the 2022 tournament in Qatar was moved to the winter — but the network paid $425 million for the four tournaments between 2015 and 2022 (two men’s, two women’s).

That’s a phenomenal price for the biggest sporting event in the world. But the World Cup will almost certainly not remain that affordable come 2030 and 2034 as streamers and television networks alike vie for rights. If Fox is being cost-conscious in order to save for the NFL, that makes the likelihood of competing with potential bidders like Netflix, which already won rights to the next two Women’s World Cups, quite unlikely.

If Fox is looking for big savings, its most-expensive non-NFL media rights deal by far is its MLB package. Fox pays approximately $729 million per year for an MLB package that includes the World Series, an LCS, and regular-season games. The network has aired every World Series since 2000. But the league will be taking its media rights to market in 2028, and the hope is for a substantial increase.

The World Series is Fox’s only annual championship broadcast of a major sport. They split the Super Bowl with three other networks and the World Cup only comes around every four years. It would be a big sacrifice for the network’s sports division, but also a big savings. Considering Fox’s history with the sport, it seems more likely the network will pursue a renewal for baseball in 2028 than a renewal for the World Cup.

Other than NFL, college football is Fox’s bread and butter. The likelihood that Fox would cut down its college football inventory, especially considering its ownership stake in Big Ten Network, seems slim.

More likely, Fox will look at ancillary properties like non-World Cup soccer. Fox has a deal with CONMEBOL for Copa America, UEFA for the Euros, CONCACAF for Gold Cup, and a limited package of non-exclusive MLS games. If the network doesn’t renew with FIFA for the World Cup, it seems like the natural next step would be to let some of these deals go as well.

Fox’s motorsports deals seem safe. Its NASCAR agreement, which includes 14 Cup Series events including the Daytona 500, lasts through 2031. Fox also recently bought a stake in Penske Entertainment, which owns IndyCar, so that inventory isn’t going anywhere.

Unfortunately, this is the reality other leagues will have to deal with. Broadcasters need the NFL. Increasingly, the NFL is taking up a larger portion of the overall budget, leaving less for everyone else. We’ve already seen ESPN take measures to avoid overpaying for sports rights, including recently with Formula One and MLB. That same dynamic is about to hit other leagues.